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| Energy bills set to fall for millions of households | Energy bills set to fall for millions of households |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Energy bills are to fall for millions of British households this April after the regulator lowered price caps. | |
| Ofgem has reduced the default price cap and pre-payment meter cap by £17, which the regulator said would lower bills for about 15 million households. | Ofgem has reduced the default price cap and pre-payment meter cap by £17, which the regulator said would lower bills for about 15 million households. |
| The cap was introduced to protect customers on poor value default or standard variable tariffs. | The cap was introduced to protect customers on poor value default or standard variable tariffs. |
| Ofgem's chief executive Jonathan Brearley said households could get even lower bills by switching suppliers. | |
| The default price cap, which protects about 11 million households, is set to fall from £1,179 to £1,162 for the April-September period. | |
| The pre-payment meter cap, which protects a further 4 million households, will fall from £1,217 to £1,200 per year for the same six months. | |
| Wholesale gas and electricity prices are currently at their lowest levels for about 10 years, and there had been speculation that Ofgem would make deeper cuts, of between £20-£60. | |
| Mr Brearley said: "The default price cap is designed to protect consumers who do not switch from overpaying for their energy, whilst encouraging competition in the retail market. | |
| "Suppliers have been required to become more efficient and pass on savings to consumers. In its first year, the cap is estimated to have saved consumers £1bn on average on their energy bills and switching rates have hit record levels. | |
| "Households can reduce their energy bills further by shopping around for a better deal," he added. | |
| Earlier this week, data from consumer group Which? suggested that the number of energy deals priced at under £1,000 a year had surged over the past 12 months. | |
| Which? looked at the availability of cheaper energy tariffs priced under £1,000 a year for a medium user. It found 78 deals available, compared with just 12 when the energy price cap was first introduced on 1 January 2019. |