BRITAIN’S broken energy system must be overhauled, unions urged today, warning that another cost crisis could emerge if fundamental problems in the sector are not addressed.

It came after Ofgem announced that it is dropping its energy price cap from £3,280 to £2,074 from July 1 as global wholesale prices have dropped.

The energy regulator said the average household bill will fall by £426.

Ofgem acknowledged that the rate is still above pre-crisis levels (£1,277 in October 2021) and that households could still struggle to pay bills.

Unite said the crisis showed Ofgem was not fit for purpose, allowing “rampant Big Energy [to continue] plundering the economy.”

“The pre-payment meter scandal demonstrates for all those who haven’t realised that Ofgem is no longer fit for purpose. It’s time to face facts. Time to bring the energy profiteers into public ownership,” general secretary Sharon Graham urged.

GMB union national secretary Andy Prendergast warned that despite the fall, “fundamental problems with the energy system remain.”

He said: “When other countries are making serious investments in hydrogen technology, we seem to be paying lip service, something that will leave the UK behind.

“Serious investment and a national plan need to be delivered now.”

Campaigners warned that high energy prices are entrenching the household debt crisis and said customers are still going to be paying roughly the same for their energy as last winter.

Junnie Braithwaite, 56 from north-east London, who uses a stairlift in her social rent apartment, said that lower energy prices were “give with one hand to take with the other.”

She said: “I might get a few quid off my energy bill but that’s swallowed up by food prices going through the roof.

“I still don’t have peace of mind and I am already dreading next winter when my energy bills will go up again.”

End Fuel Poverty Coalition coordinator Simon Francis said: “The government needs to use the summer to fix Britain’s broken energy system.

“This means ramping up energy efficiency programmes, helping the public with energy debt and reforming energy pricing arrangements.”

Debt Justice executive director Heidi Chow said that the price cap is still “dangerously unaffordable,” adding: “Rather than relying on falling wholesale gas prices to solve the record energy debt, the government needs to intervene to tackle the debt hangover that is trapping millions of households in hardship and poverty.”