British Gas lowers prices for electricity customers

Fri, 13 Jan 2012
 
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Following on from EDF Energy’s decision to drop gas prices by 5 per cent, British Gas has announced more than five million of its customers will also benefit from a 5 per cent drop in its standard electricity tariff .

The move will take effect immediately and will reduce annual electricity bills by an average of £24. However, there will be no reduction in gas prices, the energy giant confirmed.

The UK’s big six energy suppliers have come under increasing pressure to cut their bills and offer some winter respite for millions of households following recent falls in wholesale gas prices .

Ian Peters, managing director of energy at British Gas, said: "We want to keep prices as low as possible for our customers. Household budgets are stretched and we are doing everything we can to help our customers keep their bills down."

He claimed the price reduction meant British Gas is now the cheapest of all major suppliers for standard electricity .

However, Ann Robinson, director of consumer policy at comparison site uSwitch, described the recent energy cuts as "disappointing", and said they will go nowhere near cancelling out the £224, or 21 per cent, hike in prices that consumers have seen over the last 18 months.

"We can only hope that these reductions are the first and more will follow," she added.