Npower confirms gas price cut: will your energy bill get cheaper?

Npower has become the latest major energy supplier to announce price cuts.

The Big Six supplier is to reduce the price of its standard gas tariff by an average of 5.2%. That’s the equivalent of a £32 annual saving for more than a million customers on its standard tariffs. However the price cut won’t come into effect until 28th March.

Paul Coffey, CEO of npower, said that the firm had balanced the fall in the wholesale price of gas against increases in other costs the supplier faces in order to deliver this cut.

Gas price cuts across the board

Over the last few weeks we have seen a number of suppliers move to cut the prices they charge for gas on their standard tariffs.

E.ON was the first, announcing a cut of 5.1% to its standard gas tariff price, effective from 1st February. It was followed shortly after by SSE which cut prices by 5.3%, effective from 29th March, and then ScottishPower which last week announced a cut of 5.4%, effective from 15th March.

[SPOTLIGHT]The cuts follow pressure from both the Government and industry regulator Ofgem. Wholesale gas prices have fallen sharply over the last year and a half, by as much as a third. However, energy suppliers are accused of not dropping their prices in line with those drops as quickly as they should.

Don’t sit on a standard tariff!

It’s very important to remember that these price cuts only apply to customers on standard tariffs. If you are on a fixed tariff, then your bill won’t change.

The standard tariff is what you move onto when you get to the end of your fixed period, and is invariably the worst deal on offer from an energy supplier. So while these price cuts are welcome, the fact remains that if you benefit from them, you could actually save FAR more by shopping around for a new fixed tariff.

For example, if you are on a standard tariff from SSE, even after the price cut you will pay on average £1,068 a year for your energy.

That’s hundreds of pounds more than with one of these great fixed tariff deals!

Prices based on average consumption as measured by Ofgem of 12,500kWh of gas and 3,100kWh of electricity and a customer paying by monthly direct debit including VAT.

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