EDF Launches New Energy Plans As Energy Price War Hots Up

EDF Energy has launched 2 new energy plans, the new Online Saver v7 plan and the new Fixed Price 2015 plan, adding to the energy price war, coming after such as British Gas recently cut their prices.

Update: 8 December 2010

There is now a new EDF Online Saver v7 energy plan with a 2% minimum discount on EDF Standard tariff rates until 31 December 2011.

The EDF Online Saver v6 plan will be available for a limited time. Whilst it is a variable price tariff  meaning prices may be subject to change, until 30 June 2011 the energy unit rates will be at least 2% less than the equivalent EDF Standard tariff unit rates.

Gareth Kloet, head of Utilities at Confused.com comments “Its new Online Saver v6 tariff is a best buy in 8 out of the 14 regions and offers a guaranteed 2% discount off EDF Energy’s standard rates until June 2011.

As it is a tracker tariff, if EDF do follow the example already set by British Gas and cut their standard rates in the future, it will become even cheaper.  Although this tariff has an exit fee of £25 per fuel (£50 for a combined fuel switch), it will be appealing to many customers looking for a competitive deal.”

The EDF Fixed Price 2015 offers peace of mind knowing that prices won’t increase, offering easier budgeting and long term benefit if energy prices go up. There’s an extra Dual Fuel discount of £8.40 per yer if you take both gas and electricity from EDF.

Gareth Kloet comments “Whilst not a winner in terms of price, it’s the longest guaranteed period currently on offer in the market place and will therefore appeal to those that believe energy prices will rise in the longer term.

However, this tariff could prove to be a gamble as there is dissention amongst industry experts as to whether prices are destined to rise or fall in the short to medium term.  On the downside, it has expensive exit penalties in the early years (£100 in yr1, £75 in yr2 and £50 in yr3 per fuel).

The good news for the cautious, who wish to opt for this in a bid to make long term budgeting easier, is that there are no cancellation penalties for leaving after the intital 3 years so it’s not necessarily as restrictive as it seems on the surface.”

EDF Energy is part of the EDF Group, one of the UK’s largest energy groups.