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Remember back in February, when I wrote that Ofgem’s so-called “solutions” to the hated standing charge on energy bills were nonsense?

Now the regulator has published its latest plan – and it proves my point.

From January, all suppliers will be required to offer at least one tariff with a lower standing charge. Great!

But here’s the catch: customers will then pay more for each unit of electricity or gas they use.

It is not a saving at all – it’s merely moving the money around the bill.

‘Money Saving Expert’ Martin Lewis has described the plan as “disappointing.”

Citizens Advice says it “won’t bring down people’s bills.”

Other charities warn it will only cause confusion.

And the obvious question remains unanswered:

Why aren’t low-use households being offered a lower standing charge, while paying the same price per unit of electricity as everyone else?

That would be simple, fair and transparent.

People who use less energy would stop being punished with a daily fee that, in many cases, exceeds the cost of the energy they actually consume.

And high-use households would stop being subsidised by the poorest.

Instead, Ofgem is tinkering.

It is shuffling costs around so that suppliers continue to enjoy their guaranteed income streams, while ordinary people get more complicated tariffs and no meaningful relief from bills that are already too high.

Let’s not forget: standing charges have risen by more than 40 per cent since 2019, even as suppliers like British Gas and SSE report billions in profits.

These charges function exactly like Margaret Thatcher’s Poll Tax from 1990 (remember that?) – a flat fee that penalises the poorest and most frugal, while leaving the wealthiest relatively unscathed.

If Ofgem really wanted fairness, it could go much further.

We already have models that work better – like income tax and even council tax – in which people are put into bands according to their means or their property. Why not apply the same principle to energy?

Households could be banded by their typical usage:

• Low-use households (single people, pensioners, smaller homes) in a low band for standing charges.

• Medium-use households in a middle band.

• High-use households (those consuming far more than average) in the top band.

Everyone would still pay the same per unit of electricity, but the standing charge would reflect their demand on the system.

The current postcode lottery – where people in North Wales or Merseyside pay far higher charges than others – could also be scrapped.

That would be genuinely fair.

But Ofgem – despite being called a regulator – isn’t interested in fairness.

It is protecting the profits of privatised suppliers, not protecting the public.

With households already £3.8 billion in collective energy debt, this is a dereliction of duty.

A regulator is supposed to stop firms ripping us off. Ofgem’s latest plan makes it easier.

If it cannot – or will not – stand up for ordinary people, then it is not fit for purpose and should be replaced by a regulator that understands what public service actually means.

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