26 September 2008
Energy companies are making annual profits of £1.35bn by charging social housing tenants and others on low incomes extra to use pre-payment meters, a survey shows.
Figures released by the National Housing Federation this week show that the excess charge paid by each household with a meter is worth £113 per month to energy providers.
While a typical pre-payment meter costs £85 to maintain annually, customers are charged an average of £322 more than the best deals available to other households.
British Gas charges meter users up to £567 more than people who pay via online direct debits, while Npower levies a 'premium' of up to £378, says the survey.
According to the NHF, 5.7 million households with an average income of £16,000 use pre-payment meters. Earlier this month, Chancellor Alistair Darling threatened to use reserve powers unless the companies came up with fairer prices.
David Orr, the federation's chief executive, said: 'The big energy companies are effectively charging a penalty to meter users — while ministers hesitate over what to do.'
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