Martin Lewis is among the critics taking aim at a recent "disappointing" decision from Ofgem, which is set to come into effect next year and impact energy tariffs.
The energy regulator recommends firms should be required to offer at least one deal with lower standing charges in a move that will supposedly give households more choice on how they pay flat-rate charges.
However, it is unlikely energy bills will fall due to this change as the charge is just moved from one part of the bill to another.
Tim Jarvis, director general of markets at Ofgem, said: “We’ve listened to thousands of consumers that wanted to see changes to the standing charge and taken action.
Martin Lewis is taking aim at a recent decision from Ofgem
|GETTY / ITV
"We have carefully considered how we can offer more choice on how they pay these fixed costs, however we have taken care to ensure we don’t make some customers worse off. We cannot remove these charges, we can only move costs around.
"These changes would give households the choice they have asked for, but it’s important that everyone carefully considers what’s right for them as these tariffs are unlikely to reduce bills on their own."
Speaking on ITV' s Good Morning Britain about the changes, Mr Lewis said: "The core problem is it doesn't look like it'll be under the price cap mechanism. That leads to two big possible problems."
The host of The Martin Lewis Money Show Live noted there is not a limit to what firms can charge, so suppliers could reduce the standing charge while increasing the unit rate far beyond what is needed to compensate for it.
Ofgem demands action plans from suppliers | GETTY As well as this, the founder of MoneySavingExpert asserted that Ofgem did not carry forward his proposal to default lower-income households to whichever tariff is best for them, meaning it is unlikely many will switch to this new tariff.
He took aim at Ofgem "smothering" potentially workable changes to standing charges in a “pillow of bureaucracy.”
This comes as the majority of households have lost faith that their energy costs will return to manageable levels, with new research revealing that 60 per cent of the population believes bills will remain unaffordable indefinitely.
According to polling from More in Commom, merely a quarter of respondents expressing confidence that the government possesses any strategy to reduce costs.
The human cost of perpetual high energy bills emerges through personal accounts like that of Tamsin, a pensioner from Wolverhampton, who described the psychological toll of heating restrictions.
"It's quite depressing though, isn't it? Because your home is your castle if you like and you want to go in and feel like if you're working, you want to come home and relax and enjoy your home," she told More in Common.
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Households have struggled with rising energy bills
| GETTYShe detailed the reality of limiting heating to single-hour periods whilst bundling in hooded jumpers and blankets.
"I think it affects your mental health, it has got to in some way," Tamsin reflected.
Carly, a retail manager from Steveange, added; "I’ve had to go onto a smart meter and I hate it. I can actually see how much I’ve got to pay.
"It makes me feel crappy to be honest because when you’ve worked really hard and you’re nearly 50 and you’re having to go on a smart meter so you can see what you’ve spent - yeah you want to get better in life, don’t you? Not get worse."