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Energy regulator Ofgem has confirmed penalties of £200,000 for both npower and ScottishPower. The penalties were proposed after both companies unfairly stopped customers from switching to a new supplier.
Ofgem Chairman, Sir John Mogg, said: “This was a clear abuse of the special rules surrounding the position of customers in debt. Our decision will demonstrate to all energy companies that we will not tolerate any bad practices which damage customer confidence in the competitive energy markets. Consumers can save a lot of money by switching supplier. We do not want to see anyone put off exercising their right to choose a new supplier.”
npower and ScottishPower’s service ratings on the uSwitch website will be affected by Ofgem’s findings.
npower has announced a rise in gas and electricity prices, which will take effect on April 1 st for existing customers. Price increases vary across regions and payment methods, but the average increase across all regions is 5.2% for gas and 5.8% for electricity. The increase amounts to around 34p per week for the average gas user and 29p per week for the average electricity user. New npower customers who sign up between now and April will start paying the increased rates immediately.
ScottishPower has announced price rises of an average 5.2% for gas and electricity, affecting customers from March 1st. The rise only applies to customers in the Eastern, East Midlands , Manweb, Norweb and ScottishPower regions .
All other regions are unaffected unless paying via a prepayment meter. Prepayment gas customers will see an average increase of 6.37%, across all regions; prepayment electricity customers will see an average increase of 5.16%, in the ScottishPower and Manweb regions only.
EDF (London Energy, SWEB, Seeboard, and Virgin HomeEnergy) has announced gas and electricity price increases for all regions, effective from March 1st.
London Energy and SWEB customers will see an average 7.8% increase to their gas bill and 7.7% to their electricity bill.
- Seeboard Energy customers will pay an extra 5.4% for gas and 9.8% for electricity.
- Virgin HomeEnergy prices will rise by 7.3% for gas and 6.2% for electricity.
Andrew Salmon, Managing Director of uSwitch.com, explains: “While it is true that all EDF Energy customers will now pay an extra 4.6% for each unit of gas used, EDF has also raised the kwh threshold on the initial, and most expensive gas rate for London Energy, Virgin HomeEnergy and SWEB, meaning that households will now be charged at the more costly rate for a larger portion of the gas they use.”
How will these changes affect you? Would you be better off with a different supplier? Assess and evaluate with uSwitch.com’s free, impartial comparison services, and start saving money on your utility bills.
Click Here to Visit uSwitch.com
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