In a letter to non-domestic suppliers calling out examples of ‘non-domestic customer harm’, the regulatory body said it had been on the receiving end of reports about lack of offers for new contracts, excessive security deposits, excessive charges for deemed rates, and delayed responses from suppliers to customers.
“We understand that suppliers may be managing increased market and bad debt risk. However, suppliers should not profit from the current state of the market in a way that negatively impacts customers and must not subvert the intent of the Energy Bill Relief Scheme,” read the letter from Ofgem.
In response, Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association said that after monitoring these issues closely for months and supplying numerous cases of extremely poor practice by non-domestic energy suppliers from pubs and brewers from across its membership, it was good to see Ofgem recognising and intervening on this issues that has been causing business owners stress, anxiety and extreme extra cost pressures for months.
“Outside of the energy cap, suppliers have sought to make money elsewhere, by increasing prices on other parts of bills not covered by the cap and cancelling contracts at short notice. At a time when energy bills are still crippling pub and brewing businesses it is essential that Ofgem continues to investigate these practices,” she said.
“Holding suppliers to account to ensure business owners are not at the mercy of suppliers is an important part of the regulator’s role. Pubs and brewers quite rightly expect to receive fair and transparent deals and we look forward to continuing to work with Ofgem and government to ensure this.”
Earlier this month, it was reported that while the price for electricity was set at 53p per kWh, operators in the hospitality sector have reported receiving quotes of up to 80p per kWh for fixed electricity contracts, with suppliers also asking for 'excessive' deposits to take on new customers.