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. They also cover the costs of building new network infrastructure and keeping the power on when energy suppliers go bust. Ofgem stressed these charges cannot be removed entirely and that they can only be moved from one part of the bill to another, which means they are unlikely to mean lower energy costs. 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.