Energy bills: price rises and cuts in full

Npower is the last of the Big Six energy companies to announce a price reduction for its customers. This follows the Government’s announcement last month that it was reducing the cost of the Energy Company Obligation (ECO), and offering a rebate, that it is funding for two years, plus a one-off reduction on electricity bills.

However, npower and Scottish Power are not passing on their reductions to all their customers, with customers on fixed tariffs only receiving the £12 rebate.

EDF and E.On, who are not reducing bills, argue that they prepared for this change by announcing considerably lower tariff increases last year – 3.9% and 3.7% respectively, compared to an average of 9% from the other four.

[Best savings accounts and ISAs to start 2014]

Rises and falls

Here are last year’s price rises and the subsequent price reductions in full. All figures are based on an average dual fuel customer's bills.

Company	Average annual price rise (%)	Average annual price rise (£)	Average price reduction (%)	Average price reduction (£)	Date of price reduction	Revised average price rise (£)
British Gas	9%	£123	3.2%	£53 (£41 reduction + £12 rebate)	1st January	£70
Scottish Power	8.6%	£113	3.3%	£42	31st January	£71
Npower	10.4%	£137	2.6%	£50 (£38 reduction + £12 rebate)	28th February (reduction)/autumn (rebate)	£87
SSE	8.2%	£104	3.5%	£50 (£38 reduction + £12 rebate)	24th March	£54
EDF	3.9%	£49	-	-	-	-
E.On	3.7%	£37	-	-	-	-

Companies have also pledged to hold prices for as long as possible this year, barring any major increases in the wholesale prices of energy.

[Give yourself a £4,000 cash boost]

Switch and save money on your energy bills

It’s impossible to totally avoid rising costs when it comes to energy bills, but you may be able to save some money by switching providers. If you’ve not done it in a while you could save an average of £300 per year.

Right now the cheapest fixed tariff comes from First Utility at £1,037 per year, which is £286 cheaper than the average dual fuel bill.

Supplier	Tariff	Average cost	Saving vs typical bill*
First Utility	iSave Fixed v14 July 2015	£1,037	£286
Ovo	New Energy Fixed + Ovo Just Reward	£1,042	£281
Green Star Energy	No Worries 24 Months Fixed Version 1311	£1,061	£238
Co-operative Energy	Fixed Price July 2015	£1,077	£229
Scottish Power	Online Fixed Price Energy February 2015v3	£1,081	£218

*Saving calculated against an average bill of £1,323 Source: Energyhelpline, 07/01/13

[See if you can switch your energy supplier and save money]