APRIL 1 is typically a day for humour, but not many in Scotland were laughing when Ofgem, the UK’s energy regulator, announced that the price cap for household heating would be rising by 54% on that day, in effect ushering in the largest ever one-off increase in heating bills.
It was no practical joke, but has Ofgem taken us for fools? The regulator said the rise was necessary because “energy companies cannot afford to supply electricity and gas to their customers for less than they have paid for it”, and that “under the price cap, energy companies can only charge a fair price”. This raises as many questions as it does answers.
