The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero added Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) regional rates and standing charges for prepayment meters for January to March 2024 to its published rates page on 24 November 20231. The same page had been updated on 25 August 2023 with the equivalent prepayment figures for October to December 20231.
The rates apply to England, Scotland and Wales1. They are the maximum unit rates suppliers can charge on tariffs subject to the Ofgem price cap, and suppliers can charge less1. The page states that the EPG will remain in place until the end of March 20241.
"Added Energy Price Guarantee (prepayment meters): regional rates and standing charges, January to March 2024."
The publication history shows how the scheme has been extended and restated over time. The page was first published on 7 October 2022, with rates for January to March 2023 added on 29 November 20221. On 15 March 2023 the department said the EPG had been extended until the end of June 2023 and added rates for April to June 20231. Prepayment meter regional rates for July to September 2023 followed on 26 May 20231.
The update history also shows a change in what is published. The July to September 2023 entry covers prepayment regional rates only, while the October to December 2023 and January to March 2024 entries cover prepayment regional rates and standing charges1. The page describes the EPG unit rates as applying to standard variable tariffs1.
The published page does not give the rate values themselves in the update text, and no figures for the January to March 2024 prepayment rates have been reported here1.
Why it matters for households
Prepayment meter customers pay for energy before they use it, so the unit rate and the standing charge set the pace at which credit on the meter is used up. A published regional rate and standing charge for the quarter gives those households a fixed reference point for what suppliers may charge on capped tariffs, and a way to check a statement or a top-up against the maximum1. Because the rates vary by region, the figure that applies to a home depends on where it is1.
Standing charges are levied regardless of how much energy is used, so they bear more heavily on low-usage homes. The addition of standing charges to the prepayment tables for the last two quarters of the scheme means both components of the bill are now published together for those periods1. For a household trying to hold down consumption, the standing charge sets a floor that usage reductions cannot go below.
The EPG is a temporary support scheme with a stated end date of March 20241. What replaces it for prepayment customers after that date is not set out on this page1.
What happens next
The EPG is stated to remain in place until the end of March 20241. No rates or arrangements beyond that date appear on the page1.