It comes after The i Paper revealed that the Treasury were looking at cutting standing charges to help lower-income households. Standing charges are applied daily, regardless of how much energy the customer uses, and are used to cover the cost of supplying energy to homes and businesses. Campaigners say standing charges are unfair because everybody pays the same rate, meaning they make up a far higher proportion of bills for people using less energy. Martin McCluskey, minister for energy consumers, said: “Consumers should have freedom and choice when choosing an energy tariff that works for them. “This proposal will make more tariffs available on the market, giving people more options to pay lower standing charges if that suits their needs.