Burnham Proposes Eliminating Standing Charges on Gas Bills
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has put forward a plan to remove standing charges from gas bills, though key details remain unclear.
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has proposed eliminating standing charges from household gas bills, a move he says would benefit consumers who use less energy. Standing charges are fixed daily fees that customers pay regardless of how much gas they actually consume, meaning low-usage households can end up paying disproportionately high bills.
The proposal has drawn scrutiny, however, over how energy suppliers would recover the revenue currently collected through those fixed charges. Critics and analysts have raised concerns that removing standing charges could simply shift those costs onto unit rates — the price charged per unit of gas used — potentially leaving heavier energy users worse off.
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Prime Minister Keir Starmer offered limited public detail on the plan, leaving open questions about its structure, timeline, and whether the government intends to back it formally. The lack of specifics has fueled uncertainty about how such a reform would be implemented across the broader energy market.
Standing charges have long been a point of contention among consumer advocates, who argue they penalize households that make efforts to reduce energy use. Any restructuring of how those costs are distributed would require careful regulatory consideration and coordination with energy providers and regulator Ofgem.
Continue reading at BBC News.
