- Price cap to fall 12.3% to £1,690 from April
- It means a fall of £238 for typical dual fuel household
- But bills still way above three years ago when the price cap stood at £1,138
Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell, comments on the latest Ofgem energy price cap:
“Twenty pounds a month isn’t a huge amount in the grand scheme of things but in the words of a popular supermarket advert, every little helps.
“Households have been battered by surging energy costs over the past couple of years and as government support fully comes to an end there will be many people still terrified when temperatures outside plummet. Whilst a typical bill will fall to the lowest level in two years the price of keeping the lights on and rooms warm is still uncomfortably high.
“Consumer champions used to urge us all to continuously shift supplier, but those deals have been few and far between over the past couple of years and many households are nervous about locking into a deal that might end up costing them dearly if the price cap keeps falling.
“A ban on acquisition tariffs has been extended which is likely to limit competition but also prevent companies getting into the kind of hot water which saw a slew of businesses go bust.
“There are big questions to be answered about the entire energy system which has seen many people priced out of servicing a basic need.
“Inequity must be stamped out and huge levels of debt weighing down the system have to be clawed back, even if there will undoubtedly be debate around where that money should come from. The system needs to be rebuilt, but do we simply want to replace like for like or is there a better option?”
