MPs have agreed to accept the energy bill ceiling devised by the government despite its complexity, saying that the system is better than no price cap at all.

Earlier this week it emerged that the price cap, which will run throughout 2023, will be recalculated during the year and that not all households will benefit fully.

This is how the price cap will work

Energy minister Rob Jetten said during Wednesday evening’s debate that ‘95% of households will not be disadvantaged by normal energy usage’.

MPs have also raised questions about energy provider profits, given the government is handing over taxpayers’ cash to keep their prices artificially low.

Socialist party MP Renske Leijten said she would rather the government nationalised energy firms. ‘Helping poor people by letting companies make large profits is not something we would want to sign up for,’ she said.

The right-wing Liberal VVD also said the ruling is too generous to energy firms and called for a reduction in their profit margins.

Jetten told MPs that the consumers’ authority ACM and government accountants would monitor the application of the price ceiling carefully and would intervene if the energy firms appeared to be making excessive profits.

The government expects the price cap to cost some €23.5 billion.