Iceland has accused gas and electricity firms of profiteering and is among several businesses to raise concerns to Ofgem about the behaviour of suppliers.
The complaints to the energy regulator form part of an investigation launched earlier this year into “poor conduct” after the energy crisis saw bills skyrocket, The Telegraph reported.
The frozen food retailer, which relies on energy to run its business, saw its energy bill hit a £20m increase last September and temporarily paused new store openings as a result.
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Speaking of energy firms, Iceland said: “Suppliers are attempting to remove every element of risk from their business by passing it directly onto their customers.
“The customers then have no option but to pass these costs on where they can or absorb them. The first option fuels the cost-of-living crisis and the second could see many businesses fail.”
The grocer explained that suppliers were charging soaring fees to lock in energy contracts and were keeping hold of security deposits worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.
“Having chased this with the supplier every day for the past two months, there is still no confirmation of when this money will be returned,” Iceland added.
Ofgem said that it looks to address concerns by “introducing better complaint handling between suppliers and businesses”.
