Big Five energy suppliers fail to follow British Gas’ 5% reduction in consumer prices

The 5% reduction in gas prices for British Gas customers kicks in today – but none of the other Big Six utility suppliers which dominate the UK market followed this lead.

This prompted Ann Robinson, director of consumer policy at uSwitch.com to call out the other suppliers for not passing on price reductions: “With wholesale energy prices at a five-year low, suppliers who are refusing to reduce bills further have a lot of explaining to do.”

And David Hunter, energy analyst at Schneider Electric, commented:  “Despite wholesale prices falling 28% for gas and 16% for electricity over the last year, five of the Big Six energy suppliers have chosen to stick with their tariffs rather than passing consumers a new deal. 

“The questions people should be asking are: Why only 5%? Why only gas? and Why only British Gas?

“On gas, the only movement we’ve seen since this year – except for British Gas– were 4% average reductions announced in January, although in some cases these were only effective from April. 

“And, it is worse for electricity prices.  There have been no announced cuts to standard electricity tariffs since January 2014.  It’s true that the costs of environmental levies, renewable subsidies and ‘rewiring Britain’ are moving bills in the other direction, but it’s clear that these standard tariffs are just not representing value for money.

“Consumers should shop around to identify one of the many more competitive offers available in the market, rather than sitting on expensive ‘default’ standard tariffs.

“It’s also a huge opportunity for people to ‘fix the roof while the sun is shining’ by considering investing some of the savings from cheaper bills and lower prices at the pumps in energy efficient measures in the home like more efficient lighting, or towards buying a greener car. 

“That way when energy markets inevitably rise, family budgets can have built-in protection for the future”