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More pain for energy customers 23 April 2010
Steven Jackson (about the author)

Two sets of energy customers are poised to suffer sharp rises in their fuel bills. Almost half a million British Gas customers are at the end of their Price Protection Plan 2010, which froze their fuel bills for five years.

The average annual bill for these householders is currently £820, but when they come off their plans at the end of this month they will find that the average annual energy bill is now £1,194 - a difference of £374.

Over the five years of the British Gas Price Protection deal, customers have, on average, saved more than £1,100 compared with what they would have paid on a standard tariff.

But now, says a spokesman for uSwitch.com, the price comparison website, “they could be going from a great fix to an expensive pickle.”

Steven Jackson of beatmydebt.com is worried that many individuals could be significantly effected. "At a time when budgets are tight and personal debt levels high, any increase  in household bills will be an additional burden. People need to act quickly to to find out of they can switch to a better tarrif" he said.

However, customers don’t have to switch to a much higher standard tariff. 

Emma Bush, of uSwitch, says: “A customer who is prepared to manage his or her account online could switch to Ovo Energy’s Ovo New Energy tariff. A typical medium energy user could expect to pay £857 a year for their fuel. Anyone not having access to the internet can pay an extra £20 a year to obtain the same tariff. At £877 a year this would still be a very good deal.”

New deal to be offered

British Gas has said it is planning to write to all customers concerned offering a new Price Protection deal.

Meanwhile tens of thousands of npower customers got a nasty shock after they were moved off attractive online deals to more expensive tariffs. Some customers, mainly very low energy users, may be paying 25 per cent more on their energy bills as a result.

The tariffs involved are Sign On Line deals 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14.

Npower says its hand was forced by a recent ruling by Ofgem, the energy regulator, that ordered companies to offer only deals that reflected the true cost of providing power.

An npower spokesman said: “Ofgem has said that special deals for special groups of customers, such as online customers, must not last beyond a certain limited time. The Sign On Line deals involved have all been running for more than a year so we decided to end them.”

But an Ofgem spokesman said: The point of the ruling was to crack down on unduly expensive tariffs, such as those paid by people on prepayment meters. It was not to stop suppliers offering competitive deals.”

“We are monitoring the actions that the energy suppliers take to conform to the new new riules and licence conditions. If we find that any supplier brreaches our licence conditions we can take action - and that can include fines.”

Source: Times On-Line