Energy customers in Eastern England face biggest price rises
A new MoneySuperMarket analysis reveals that the recent price hikes from five of the Big Six energy companies will see them collecting an extra £1 billion from bill-payers.
EDF, npower, E.ON, Scottish Power and SSE have all announced price hikes ranging from one to ten per cent. According to MoneySuperMarket, affected households will be paying £80 more a year for exactly the same amount of energy.
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And it's households on standard variable tariffs in the East of England who will be worst hit, with bills rising by an average of £88. Almost a quarter of households on Big Six tariffs in this area are with npower, which announced the highest price rise at 10%. A third are with Scottish Power, which increased prices by 8%.
And, says MoneySuperMarket, these households could save £388 by switching to a fixed rate tariff.
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Meanwhile, most households in North Wales, Merseyside and Cheshire on Big Six tariffs are with EDF, which announced a price rise of only 1%. These will see the smallest price hikes, at an average of £58.
On average, says MoneySuperMarket, households affected by the price rises could save almost £400 by shopping around and switching providers.
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Even those with British Gas, which is freezing standard variable tariffs until August 2017, are still typically paying £1,174 annually - 34% more than the cheapest fixed deals on the market.
"The message is loud and clear for the millions of people hit by Big Six price rises: shop around if you're on a standard variable tariff, or if you're on a fixed deal that's coming to an end," says Stephen Murray, energy expert at MoneySuperMarket
"Collectively, customers could save £7.4 billion by standing up to price rises and shopping around - that's well worth the seven minutes it takes to switch deals."
