PLANS by energy regulator Ofgem to review the price cap more regularly were branded "laughable" by campaigners today.

At present, the price cap is reviewed every six months, but under the plans there would be two further reviews, in January and July.

Ofgem said that the change would help pass on savings from a potential fall in gas prices to customers more rapidly and also protect under-pressure energy suppliers from being damaged by the cap.

Following a consultation, the change could come into force from October, Ofgem hopes, meaning the first change under the new system would be made in January.

However, price comparison site Uswitch.com describerd the plans as a “quick fix” and called for more fundamental long-term reform.

Activists, including public-service campaign group We Own It, have long argued that only full nationalisation of the energy market will save customers from soaring price increases.

We Own It director Cat Hobbs told the Morning Star: “This plan is nothing more than Ofgem working to protect the profits of energy companies at the expense of the rest of us. 

“The argument that this could bring bills down just as quickly as pushing them up is laughable. Since privatisation, we’ve seen that our energy bills go up and keep going up. 

“This would just see them increase even more regularly, pushing more and more families across the country into fuel poverty. 

“It couldn’t be clearer that tinkering around the edges is simply not going to solve the energy crisis. 

"We need to build an energy system that works for people and planet, not profit, and we can only do that by bringing energy into public hands.

“It’s time to put public ownership back on the table.”