Major provider ramps up energy prices

by Mark Vickery on 12 January 2011  |  2 comments
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E.ON has just become the fifth of the six major suppliers to hike its prices this winter.

E.ON has just become the fifth of the six major suppliers to hike its prices this winter. British Gas, Scottish Power, Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) and nPower announced price rises at the end of last year, so it’s no surprise that E.ON has followed suit.

E.ON’s standard tariff will increase by an average of 5% on 4th February, and experts estimate this will add approximately £60 per year to the annual electricity bill for three million of its customers. That’s based on the average winter bill, but given that forecasts suggest the freezing temperatures this winter will increase the average bill by 20%, this figure could be even higher.

This means E.ON’s standard tariff is no longer the cheapest, having been leapfrogged by EDF (the only one of the Big Six yet to raise its prices) but beware – EDF’s “price freeze” expires in six weeks, so we may be in for more bad news.

What’s more, suppliers’ standard tariffs are on average £130 a year more than online tariffs, so suppliers will obviously put us on them by default wherever they can. This highlights the need to check your bill regularly to make sure you’re not one of the millions on a standard tariff.

Top online tariffs

Here are the cheapest online tariffs, and this week we’ve added an extra column so you can see the average saving compared with the supplier’s standard tariff. You could save up to £175 simply by switching to your current supplier’s online tariff, and possibly even more by switching to a different supplier altogether!

And if, like most customers on standard tariffs, you pay on receipt of your quarterly bill, this figure could be much, much higher.

* Post price rise

Based on customer payment by MDD, Dual Fuel, 20,500kWh Gas and 3,300 kWh Elec. This table only shows gas and electricity tariffs alone and does not include bundled products. Prices correct as of 12th January 2011.

Compare energy tariffs at lovemoney.com