Candidate calls for ‘egregious’ energy standing charges to be scrapped

Roberto Weeden-Sanz, the Conservative candidate for Scarborough and Whitby, has said that energy standing charges should be scrapped.

It comes as the average household energy bill is to fall to its lowest point in two years from April under Ofgem’s new price cap.

Mr Weeden-Sanz said: “Standing charges are an unfair penalty on households with lower incomes and anyone who tries to save money by reducing their energy usage.

He said that he would “campaign to scrap this egregious levy and to make the system fairer” so that “people pay for the energy they use.”

Average Yorkshire households are paying more than double the amount for energy compared to five years ago, according to BBC analysis of Government data.

The BBC found that Yorkshire had had the “biggest percentage increase of any region in the country”, with the collective cost of gas and electricity for households rising to more than £2,600 from £1,200 in 2018.

The standing charge is a daily charge that households pay to their energy supplier each day to cover fixed costs of providing gas and electricity, regardless of how much energy they use

Ofgem recently held a consultation into standing charges on energy bills as part of a review into how they work.

Mr Weeden-Sanz, the Conservative candidate, said: “I believe that abolishing standing charges must be included in the government’s work to level up communities like Scarborough and Whitby and end the long-term structural inequalities between North and South that have existed in our country for decades.

He added: “In Scarborough and Whitby people can pay over 52p a day for electricity standing charges. That is more than many other parts of the country, including London, where the standing charges are under 35p a day for electricity.”

“I will campaign to scrap this egregious levy and to make the system fairer, whilst protecting

vulnerable users who have high energy costs due to illnesses or disabilities.”