Prepayment meter customers pay for their energy in advance by topping up a meter with a smart card, ‘key’ or cash token. Those on prepayment meters are typically on more expensive energy tariffs due to the cost of the systems used to run the meters.23 These households also tend to be poorer and are more likely to be in arrears on their energy 17 Qq 3, 148, 158 18 Qq 147, 172; Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and Department for Business Energy & Industrial Strategy, 900,000 more households to benefit from £400 of government energy bill support, 27 February 2023 19 Q 188, GOV.UK, Apply for alternative fuel bill support if you do not get it automatically 20 EBS0003, Countryside Alliance, Energy Bills Support, 23 February 2023 21 Qq 153, 155 22 Q 177; C&AG’s Report, paras 11, 2.7 23 Ofgem, Energy regulator outlines next steps on forced Prepayment Meter (PPM) installations, 21 February 2023; Committee of Public Accounts, Regulation of energy suppliers, Twenty-Fifth Report of Session 2022–23, HC 41, 13 November 2022 Energy bills support 13 bills, and can be unaware of national and local initiatives to reduce fuel poverty.24 We examined the Regulation of Energy Suppliers in November 2022 and concluded that it was unacceptable that many vulnerable customers, including those on prepayment meters, faced extra challenges accessing benefits designed to help people with their energy bills. At the time of our previous evidence session, the Department was unable to explain how it would ensure that all customers who used prepayment meters would receive their energy support. We recommended that the Department needed to ensure that administrative issues did not prevent support being provided to these households in a timely manner.25