The British government is considering bailout loans to help steer energy suppliers through the ongoing gas pricing crisis.
Kwarteng said Tuesday that the U.K. would need to ensure its "Supplier of Last Resort" mechanism — which helps customers transition to a new energy supplier if their current supplier collapses — was made more robust ahead of the winter to ensure a continuous supply of energy.
Companies' financial positions may be considered to evaluate whether they should be granted any potential financial assistance from the government, Kwarteng, who is meeting with some of the U.K.'s smaller energy firms on Tuesday, said. "There are no easy solutions, but the priority of all involved is to protect customers as much as possible, and whether there needs to be additional support provided to them on top of existing mechanisms, while also trying to minimize further disruption to the retail market."
The U.K. has limits on how much suppliers are able to charge consumers for energy, with price caps reviewed by the government every six months. Some companies are reportedly pressing to government to lift those caps, but Kwarteng stressed on Tuesday that he would not be rescinding the regulation.As the U.K. scrambles to mitigate the impact of the crisis, its impacts are also being felt across Europe, and industry sources have warned that the issue is a global problem.
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