Iceland complains to Ofgem over conduct of energy firms

Gas and electricity suppliers have been accused of profiteering and discrimination by businesses including Iceland, The Telegraph has reported. 

According to reports, British businesses made complaints to Ofgem regarding the behaviour of gas and electricity companies as part of the energy regulator’s investigation into “poor conduct”, which launched earlier this year amid rising energy prices.

Iceland, which is said to rely heavily on energy due to the number of fridges and freezers it uses, reportedly told Ofgem: “Suppliers are attempting to remove every element of risk from their business by passing it directly onto their customers.

“The customers then have no option but to pass these costs on where they can or absorb them. The first option fuels the cost of living crisis and the second could see many businesses fail.”

It added that suppliers were charging huge fees to secure energy contracts whilst also holding onto security deposits worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.

The retailer said: “Having chased this with the supplier every day for the past two months, there is still no confirmation of when this money will be returned.”

Ofgem has said that since the complaints were made, it has sought to address concerns by “introducing better complaint handling between suppliers and businesses”.

An Ofgem spokesman said: “These initial views were in response to an early stage of our biggest deep-dive into the non-domestic energy market.

“Since then 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.”

Iceland has been contacted for further comment.