One detail within the hike in energy bills hasn’t received enough attention. While the surge in wholesale gas prices is, by a wide margin, the biggest driver, let’s not overlook the contribution from the cost of clearing up the mess of 29 corporate failures in the sector. Those costs also fall on customers.
The infuriating element is charges for lost credit balances – in other words, money taken from customers via direct debit that should have been in place when a supplier failed. In practice, sums have been missing in many instances. Some companies, it seems, have played fast and loose with their working capital arrangements.
