POWER to the people - that was the promising idea behind electricity deregulation. Largely, it has worked. For the first time consumers can choose their supplier. Competition has driven down prices. Everyone benefits.

Not quite everyone, however. Some customers of Independent Energy are finding that cut-price electricity can mean cut-back service.

Last week we reported how York businessman Trevor Fenwick switched his supply to the West Midlands company on the promise of 25 per cent savings, only to be landed with bills totalling £30,000 instead of the expected £300. This ludicrous mistake was only one of many: he received no bills for eight months then four in one day; after complaining he received another wildly inaccurate bill and his third welcome pack.

An experienced retailer like Mr Fenwick could take such a fiasco in his stride. But Independent Energy's incompetence is not restricted to its business customers. More worryingly it is sending out wrong bills to pensioners like Sidney Redin and Sylvia Briggs.

Mr Redin, who has a heart condition, was shaken to discover he was apparently being charged nearly £2,000 for his electricity. Mrs Briggs took her custom away from Independent Energy, but that did not stop it sending her bills and threatening to cut her off.

This company has invested heavily in attracting customers apparently at the expense of everything else. Its billing system is wholly inadequate: we are left to speculate if other errors have gone unnoticed and householders, reluctant to make a fuss, simply paid up.

Quite rightly, regulator Ofgem has taken action against Independent Energy. Its mistakes damage the entire industry. Many pensioners may be unwilling to switch to a potentially cheaper supplier because of the bad publicity of these cases.

It is time Independent Energy realised that with power comes responsibility.