Most of the UK’s energy suppliers believe Ofgem has laid out a “tough” set of proposals for cutting the number of energy tariffs and making bills clearer – apart from one.

While Angela Knight, chief of Energy UK the new trade body for gas and electricity said today “there is work still to do and it is clear the industry will be under the microscope”, a green energy provider claims it is already well ahead of the game.

Dale Vince, founder of Ecotricity said: “We welcome Ofgem’s proposal, it’s got to be good news for the people of Britain and something Ecotricity is already compliant with.

“That means [we have] just two simple tariffs. All of our customers are always on our latest best price – no matter whether they joined us 10 minutes or 10 years ago – and regardless of how they pay – including customers on pre-payment meters who are often the poorest and most vulnerable in society.”

He suggested this was “at odds” with Big Six energy companies who have more than 500 tariffs between them and “offer discounted rates to new customers subsidised by 60-70% of their customers on higher standard tariffs”.

However the big energy firms are well aware they have to cut down tariffs. Earlier this year SSE said it was dropping from 68 options to just four: two variable and two fixed tariffs.

Angela Knight added: “We are committed to working with the regulator, Government and consumer groups in the months ahead to improve consumer engagement and trust in the market.”