For the third time in a fortnight, a Big Six supplier has announced that they will cut the price of gas within their standard tariffs.
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The company said a million of its customers will see their bills fall by an average of £32 a year.
It follows SSE announcing on January 28 that it will lower standard gas tariffs by 5.3%, also saving household gas customers on average £32 a year, and E.ON saying on January 20 that it will lower gas prices by 5.1% from February 1.
Energy suppliers have been under pressure to pass on the falling costs of gas in the global wholesale market to their customers, although some consumer groups think the scale of cuts so far does not go far enough. “It will still leave these customers paying on average almost £300 more than those who have shopped around and switched to one of the many fixed price deals already available”. The cut will not affect those on fixed-rate, dual-fuel tariffs.
However, energy firms say that the wholesale cost of gas makes up less than half of a typical dual-fuel bill.
Since last summer, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has been investigating whether the energy market is working competitively, but has delayed releasing its findings.
“A price war has broken out in the energy market, and we’re finally seeing lower gas and electricity prices”, analysts at price comparison website Moneysupermarket said.
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“By helping more and more suppliers enter the market, Government is ensuring that hardworking families and businesses don’t have to get stuck on expensive deals”.
