Burger King and Iceland Foods have recently voiced their concerns regarding energy suppliers, alleging a connection between energy firms and the ongoing cost of living crisis.
Their remarks come in response to Ofgem’s ongoing consultation regarding supplier conduct towards businesses, with both entities accusing energy firms of profit-seeking behaviour and unequal treatment.
Iceland Foods has highlighted what they consider a troubling trend among suppliers.
They argue that energy firms are transferring the entirety of their business risk to their customers, leaving them with limited choices.
Customers, in turn, must either pass on the rising costs to consumers or absorb them, a situation that Iceland Foods believes could worsen the cost of living crisis and potentially lead to business failures.
In addition to these concerns, Iceland Foods has pointed out that energy contracts often involve substantial fees as a standard practice, making them financially challenging for businesses.
Burger King has noted a different issue within the energy sector.
They contend that energy contracts are not readily available. According to Burger King, only two energy suppliers are willing to provide them with gas, significantly limiting their options.
An Ofgem spokesperson told Energy Live News: “These initial views were in response to an early stage of our biggest deep-dive into the non-domestic energy market.
“Since them we’ve received more up to date responses to proposals we published in July, with positive feedback from consumer groups. We are carefully considering all the responses we have received will be publishing our formal statutory change proposals later this year.
“In the interim we’ve already introduced positive changes including steps to protect microbusinesses from poor practice and have proposed expanding these protections to all businesses.
“We’ve also asked government to consider further protections in areas where Ofgem currently doesn’t have the power to regulate, like energy brokers.”
