ENERGY campaigners and suppliers have written to Ofgem to urge the regulator to not lift the ban on acquisition tariffs which offer cheapest deals to new customers only.

Energy suppliers including E.ON along with Citizens Advice, Which?, Fair by Design and the End Fuel Poverty Coalition have signed an open letter calling on Ofgem to rethink its proposal to lift the ban.

The ban was introduced by the regulator in 2022, with campaigners saying it has helped millions of customers in debt to access a better deal with their energy supplier.

“We … strongly urge Ofgem to reconsider this proposal and put on hold any final decision on the future of [the ban] until the review of the long-term role and design of price protection has concluded,” the letter reads.

“This will also allow any direction from the next government to be taken into consideration.”

It is the first time that the End Fuel Poverty Coalition has written to Ofgem alongside energy suppliers on an issue.

Coalition co-ordinator Simon Francis said: “Removing the ban on acquisition tariffs will create price discrimination against loyal customers and also hurt further the millions of households who can’t switch to a new supplier because they are in energy debt.

“Removing the safeguard also means risking a return to the unsustainable form of competition in the energy market that existed before 2021.

“Suppliers collapsed partly because they had grown too quickly in a market driven by acquisition tariffs.

“Ultimately customers bore the heavy price of these collapsed firms through the Supplier of Last Resort programme which added billions to households’ bills.”