Scottish Power yesterday announced it was reducing prices by an average 5%, making it the last of the big six suppliers to announce a fall in tariffs.
The 5% cut will be effective from 27 February and is said to be equal to an annual reduction of £36 for gas and electricity dual-fuel customers paying by monthly direct debit. No reduction will be applied for electricity-only customers.
Here’s how the other big suppliers compare:
- British Gas started the trend last week with an instant 5% off electricity tariffs
- Eon will cut electricity bills by around 6% – that’s around £31 off an average annual bill
- Southern Electric / Swalec (SSC) will cut the price of household gas by 3.8% from 26 March
- Npower will cut gas prices by 5% from 1 February
- EDF is cutting gas prices by 5% from 7 February
While this is good news, it’s worth remembering that the cuts come in the wake of some far more severe tariff increases around the end of last summer. Speaking to moneysavingexpert.com, Adam Scorer, director of policy and public affairs at Consumer Focus, says: ‘Customers will still be paying a lot more for their energy than they were a year ago and there will still be almost seven million households in fuel poverty.’
Thanks to moneysavingexpert.com for the following statistics:
For many consumers, it all comes down to control. Your energy supplier can lower, increase or fix your tariff at will, making it hard to plan for the long term and forcing many to flit between suppliers in search of a better deal. In contrast, one of the plus points of generating your own electricity is the sense of security it brings. Plus the knowledge that, even when energy prices do go up, the amount you save goes up accordingly.