28th Jan 2015 08:53
LONDON (Alliance News) - EDF Energy on Tuesday became the last of the "Big Six" energy firms to pass on the fall in wholesale gas prices on to customers, but with only a 1.3% reduction per year as the company said it has already made significant cuts during 2014.
EDF Energy will cut its annual standard variable gas bill by 1.3% from February 11, slightly earlier than the other five firms. The company justified the small price reduction, highlighting it made a series of cuts to its fixed price tariffs in 2014, resulting in the average bill falling to GBP999 per year during 2014 from GBP1,098, including a 3.8% reduction in December alone.
EDF Energy said the reduction means that "EDF Energy's standard duel-fuel prices will be cheaper than all but one of the major suppliers," it said.
EDF Energy said the reduction will cut its average standard variable gas price to GBP637 per year from GBP646, whilst duel fuel prices will fall to GBP1,155 per year from GBP1,164. The cost reductions will benefit around 1 million customers, it said in a statement.
"If wholesale gas costs continue to fall in the coming months allowing further price reductions, EDF Energy will pass these on to customers as soon as possible," said the company.
The other five members of the Big Six have already announced their price cuts.
Scottish Power Ltd, part of the Iberdola Group, is reducing domestic gas prices by 4.8% from February 20 and has launched a new fixed-price tariff that has an average dual fuel bill of GBP930.
British Gas, part of Centrica PLC, announced it would cut its customers' average energy bills by 5% from February 27, while E.ON is to slash its standard gas price by 3.5% of annual gas bills. nPower also said it would be reducing customer bills by an average of GBP33 per year across both gas and electricity for those who saw an increase in their bill during December 2014.
SSE PLC said it will cut household gas prices in Britain by 4.1% on April 30, a lot later than the other firms.
On Friday, UK gas and electricity regulator Ofgem urged customers to switch to a fixed price energy tariff, despite the major firms committing to cuts to their variable tariffs in February and April, and said independent suppliers, rather than the so-called 'Big Six' suppliers, are offering the cheapest deals.
The claim came after Ofgem released research that suggested some of the cheapest fixed tariffs were with independent suppliers, with fixed deals averaging around GBP915 per year, less than Scottish Power's new fixed tariff. The average variable tariff bill is around GBP1,165, according to the regulator.
SSE shares were down 0.1% to 1,543.00 pence per share on Wednesday morning, whilst Centrica shares were off 0.3% to 281.90 pence per share.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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