EDF Energy became the latest UK energy supplier to lower its fuel bills, announcing it was trimming its UK electricity prices by nearly 9% per cent from March 31st. However, the cuts will only benefit consumers in the south, Wales and Scotland and not those in the Midlands or Northern England. The announcement, which will benefit around 2.3 million households, or around half of EDF’s 5.5 million total, has raised the pressure on Scottish Power and N-Power, the only two major UK energy suppliers who have still not yet cut their bills this year, to do so soon. Some standard rate electricity customers could see as much as a 12.5 percent fall in rates, the French-owned company said. The group’s gas prices have also been left on hold, despite steep falls in the wholesale price of gas in the past eight months. “In this time of extremely volatile energy markets, EDF Energy continues to ensure very competitive prices for our customers,” Eva Eisenschimmel, head of brand performance at EDF Energy, said in a statement. “In 2008, we passed on the lowest gas price rises of any of the major utility suppliers.”

British Gas, E.ON and Scottish and Southern Energy have all cut some of their prices already this year although critics say the cuts do not go far enough following a near halving in the wholesale price of energy since last summer. E.ON also left its gas prices frozen after hiking them by 41 per cent in 2008. The announcement came as N-Power agreed to repay £1.2 million to some 200,000 customers after a probe by regulator Ofgem. Ofgem said Npower agreed to “put things right” after the watchdog completed an investigation into changes to its gas tariffs in 2007. Ofgem said Npower’s approach to telling its customers about the changes meant some households whose consumption was low lost out financially.

Related posts...

• June 22, 2010 -- UK Business Energy Prices: (3)
  A new survey carried out by the Economist Intelligence Unit has revealed that over 80% of British firms expect energy and fuel prices to rise sharply and almost 50% have great concern that the UK coul...
• February 21, 2010 -- Identifying a Half Hour Meter: (0)
  How to find out if you have a half hourly meter – So how do you know if you have a half hour meter?  It’s actually quite straight forward, and all you will need to find this out is a recent copy o...
• February 10, 2010 -- UK Business Gas Prices: (0)
  Business Gas Prices can be difficult to understand, as there are many different types of pricing structures available.  You could simply ring around and obtain gas prices direct from suppliers, but it...
• February 7, 2010 -- Oil Prices Back To $70 Range: (0)
  Oil prices plunged in a busy trading session on Friday, triggering big losses across the commodities markets, as investors went back to buying into the US dollar.  Crude oil prices did have a partial ...
• February 5, 2010 -- CRC Business Lights: (1)
  The era of the 'on-all-night' illuminated high street could end, the Environment Agency is predicting. The agency says new rules will force businesses to switch off lights and displays at night to mee...
• February 3, 2010 -- Bglobal Smart Meter Deal: (3)
  Bglobal Plc said it has signed a new agreement to supply and install smart meters for British Gas Business during 2010. The contract value is anticipated at more than £12 million. In addition, the com...

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Website

CAPTCHA Code *