CAMPAIGNERS blasted energy regulator Ofgem today for leaving vulnerable households in “dire situations” after it refused to lower standing charges on bills.

Despite energy debt ballooning to £3.8 billion, the regulator confirmed it will not lower the charges, which customers pay regardless of how much energy they use.

It came after a year-long consultation in which Ofgem received 30,000 submissions on the public’s views on the charges.

The majority were against the fees, which have risen 43 per cent since 2019.

Dual fuel households are still expected to fork out an average of £338 a year from January. 

Ofgem did propose plans to force energy companies to offer low or no standing charge options.

It affirmed that it was important for households to retain the choice of tariff, noting that if charges were shifted to unit rates, it would impact customers with medical and health needs who use a lot of energy. 

Ofgem director general of markets Tim Jarvis said: “We want to give consumers the ability to make the choice that’s right for them without putting any one group of consumers at a disadvantage.” 

The plans, if enacted, will not come into effect until next winter. 

National Energy Action said Ofgem’s “lack of any significant reform” was “extremely disappointing.”

The charity’s director of policy and advocacy, Peter Smith, said: “Households that use prepayment meters are particularly impacted by the continuation of high standing charges. 

“When their credit has been used up, standing charges accrue as a debt on the meter that must be cleared in full before accessing energy again. 

“We know that the higher standing charges are, the longer households are needlessly left without being able to use energy. 

“While several options to better protect prepayment meter households have been identified, Ofgem has opted to do nothing, leaving vulnerable households in often dire situations.”

Caroline Simpson, from Warm This Winter, said there was a need for long-term solutions and stressed that a comprehensive insulation programme is the “quickest and easiest way to bring down bills permanently.”

“We have 8.8 million people living in cold, damp homes, exposed to the health complications that come from living in fuel poverty and whilst we welcome these initiatives from Ofgem, insulation and ramping up renewables, to get us off volatile oil and gas for good, is what we need,” she said.