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. The cap was introduced to protect customers on poor value default or standard variable tariffs. Ofgem 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. Ofgem said in its statement that “a strong supply of gas, such as record amounts of liquefied natural gas and healthy gas stock inventories, has been the main factor pushing down wholesale prices.”
Source: (BBC Website, February 2020)
