Is It Time To Get A New Energy Deal?
Published: 9 May 2012 By Julian Stone Leave a Comment
Online energy prices have started to move upwards and will no doubt start consumers worrying about energy bills. Is it time then to get a new energy deal whilst they are still looking competitive?
ScottishPower has just pulled its Online Fixed Price Energy July 2013, a fixed price online plan costing £1,055 a year, and replaced it with Online Fixed Price Energy August 2013, which will cost £1,086 a year on average. [1]
This increase follows that by Ovo Energy in March when it increased its two duel fuel fixed tariff prices by an average of 7.7% [2], for new customers and existing Ovo customers due to renew.
Emma Bush, energy expert at uSwitch.com, says: “The fact is that small suppliers and the competitive online plans offered by the big six are usually where you first see signs of trouble ahead.
“Online plans are always competitive, but because they are so keenly priced they are also the first to reflect any volatility in the market, which is why we have started to see online prices creeping up.
The good news though is that online plans still offer a £161 saving on standard prices[1]. But what it does mean is that now is the right time to be snapping up one of these deals as we could see online prices climbing higher.”
MoneyHighStreet comments: “It’s worrying to see this upward trend in energy prices, particularly as unexpectedly high energy bills could already be pushing more people into debt.
It might be time to start considering how you can reduce your energy usage, as well as of course switching to the best energy deal to suit your needs.
There are a lot of ways you can save energy and thereby save money. For example, how about switching lights off when you leave a room? Or when boiling a kettle to make a mug of coffee, only boil enough water to make the single mug and not several mugs of coffee.
“Our article ‘Six ways to save money on your energy bill‘ may be useful and help you with ideas, including of course switching energy supplier if need be.”
According to uSwitch, the current energy ‘best buys’ are :
| Energy ‘best buys’[1]: | ||
| Supplier | Plan Name | Price |
| First Utility
|
iSave Dual Fuel V10
|
£1,027
|
| EDF Energy
|
Blue +Price Promise September 2013
|
£1,054
|
| Sainsbury’s Energy
|
Online Price Freeze June 2013 (MDD)
|
£1,058
|
| npower
|
Bill Saver August 2013
|
£1,061 |
| ScottishPower
|
Online Fixed Price Energy August 2013
|
£1,086
|
| E.ON | SaveOnline 12 | £1,113 |
| Ovo Energy | New Energy Fixed | £1,140 |
| SSE | Fixed Discount April 2014 (with paperless billing) | £1,140 |
| British Gas | Online Energy | £1,142 |
| Average | £1,091 | |
[1] Based on a medium user consuming 3,300kWh electricity and 16,500kWh gas with bill sizes averaged across all regions. Standard plan customer paying on receipt of bill. Online customer paying by monthly direct debit. Ovo Energy New Energy Fixed is not available in the Scottish-Hydro region.
[2] Figures are as of 12 March 2012 based on a medium user in a typical household using 16,500 kWh of gas and 3,300 kWh of electricity, representing an increase of £80.90 and 7.6% per year on Ovo’s New Energy dual fuel fixed tariff current price and an increase of £85.96 and 7.8% per year on the Green Energy fixed tariff current price. http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Media/FactSheets/Documents1/domestic%20energy%20consump%20fig%20FS.pdf.
