Britain’s big six gas and electricity suppliers will not be forced to introduce a general price cap after a change of heart by the Competition and Markets Authority.
The regulator’s final report, after a two-year review of the UK energy market omitted the cap having included it a year ago.
One member of the committee, Martin Cave, objected to the decision saying a short-term price cap was necessary to 'reset the market'.
The CMA also lowered its estimate for how much energy users are being overcharged, to £1.4bn from £1.7bn, but proposed 30 new measures to help customers claw some of this back.
These did include a price cap on pre-payment tariffs and also a commitment to smart meters for all customers by 2020 as well as establishing a database to allow suppliers to contact people who want to switch.
The “four-tariff” rule is to go with comparison websites playing a greater role in enabling customers to change supplier. More transparency in the way bills are calculated and transmission charges were also proposed.
“Our remedies package will revitalise the energy market, intensifying competition between energy companies to bear down on costs, ensuring customers can make informed decisions about the range of options open to them and encouraging the development of smarter regulations that work in consumers’ interests,” said the CMA.
Alistair Phillips-Davies, chief executive of big six member SSE (LON:SSE), said it was tough package but the reforms proposed should help deliver meaningful improvements for customers, but smaller suppliers slammed the report.
First Utility boss Darren Braham said the CMA had 'completely missed the mark.'
“Rather than acting quickly to make the market simpler and fairer for customers, the opposite has happened.
"With the remedies proposed, we are in real danger of being back where we started 10 years ago. This means a baffling array of tariffs, even more exploitation by the big six [energy companies] and customers continuing to pay much more than they need to.”
On a bad for shares everywhere due to the Brexit result, SSE was 7% lower at 1,445p and British Gas owner Centrica (LON:CNA) 6% lower to 204p.