Martin Lewis surprised his Twitter following when he revealed how he had lashed out in a meeting with Ofgem on Monday.
As the founder of the Money Saving Expert website, Lewis revealed that he called Ofgem’s recently proposed changes to energy bills a “fucking disgrace” during a meeting with the energy regulator.
Lewis has developed a reputation for providing sound financial advice to help every household in recent years, and has become a measured – and neutral – voice amid the political ire, meaning his outburst was all the more surprising.
He explained what happened in the tense meeting in a Twitter thread, where he wrote: “I’d like to formally apologise to the Ofgem staff for losing my rag in a background briefing just now and saying its changes are a ‘fucking disgrace that sells consumers down the river’.
“I should’ve behaved better. My ire’s institutional not individual, it was inappropriate.”
Back in April, Ofgem raised the cap on energy bills (to a record £1,971) meaning the average household’s annual bill would be increased by £700. It was one of the defining moments which pushed the country into the current cost of living crisis.
Now, Ofgem has suggested energy price hikes should become smaller, but more frequent – meaning reviews would happen every three months instead of every six.
Explaining just why this infuriated him, Lewis tweeted: “I lost it when getting briefed about today’s proposals, where it feels like at every turn, in these desperate times where lives are at risk, it has ignored all asks for consumers and instead kowtowed to the industry (I hope history proves me wrong).”
He continued to explain his “breaking point” came when he heard that Ofgem was planning to “stop the harmful effects of competition – rather than follow the proposed market stabilisation charge”.
Lewis said this meant Ofgem’s aim was to effectively stop firms undercutting the price cap, in the hope of preventing other companies from leaving the market altogether.
“I finished the call by asking it to at least consider cutting standard charges, which huge rates stop people really saving by cutting energy use.”
He said without these changes, there would be “dire consequences for consumers”, and that the energy industry “must do more to make things better for them”.
“I have had good meetings with Ofgem for years, so I’m sorry this blew up (they were calm, I wasn’t).
“Please accept that was (and this is) an emotional rant, not a considered piece.”
The money-saving expert later told LBC’s James O’Brien that he tweeted about what happened in this industry meeting, which is usually not broadcast, because it is an “unprecedented time”.
Although Lewis was evidently regretful over his outburst, Twitter was on his side in an instant: