An Ofgem director quit on Wednesday, saying she was concerned that the British energy regulator was failing to effectively protect struggling households.
Christine Farnish resigned in the belief that the watchdog had not “struck the right balance between the interests of consumers and the interests of suppliers”, she told The Times.
The energy regulator has faced growing criticism in recent months for not doing enough to protect families during the global energy crisis.
“I resigned from the Ofgem board because I could not support a key decision to recover additional supplier costs from consumer bills this winter,” said Ms Farnish, who served on the board for several years.
She said she believed the move would “add several hundred pounds to everyone’s bill in order to support a number of suppliers in the coming months”.
It is understood her resignation is linked to Ofgem’s decision to change the rules of the price cap to allow suppliers to recover some of the high energy “backwardation” costs sooner rather than later.
“We are thankful to Christine for her many years of devoted service to Ofgem," a spokesman for the regulator said.
“Due to this unprecedented energy crisis, Ofgem is having to make some incredibly difficult decisions where carefully balanced trade-offs are being weighed up all the time.
"But we always prioritise consumers’ needs in the immediate and long term.
“The rest of the board decided a shorter recovery period for energy costs was in the best interest of consumers in the long term by reducing the very real risk of suppliers going bust, which would heap yet more costs on to bills and add unnecessary worry and concern at an already very difficult time.”
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There has been increasing pressure on the government to introduce measures to tackle surging inflation and rising energy bills.
The issue has hung over the race to replace Boris Johnson as prime minister, with Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak being repeatedly pressed on their plans to help struggling households.
Ed Miliband, Labour’s shadow climate change secretary, said Ms Farnish’s resignation showed the government was “asleep at the wheel”.
“For 12 years, the Conservatives have totally failed to regulate the energy market,' Mr Miliband said. "In no other country have 32 energy suppliers gone bust.
“We simply cannot allow the British people to suffer a further increase in bills. It is intolerable that the Conservatives continue to offer no solutions to this crisis, and oppose Labour’s plan.”
A spokesman for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said: "We are aware of a resignation at the board of Ofgem, which has been accepted."
