Major energy update after Martin Lewis issues supplier warning over fixed deals – and it’s good news for billpayers

ENERGY suppliers are being forced to publish details of every energy tariff they offer following a warning from Martin Lewis.

The founder of MoneySavingExpert (MSE) wrote to the energy regulator Ofgem urging it to ask suppliers to make details of their customer-only fixed deals widely available.

Martin argued that this would help households to understand if a fixed deal is worth switching to.

At the moment, suppliers don’t need to make public tariffs it offers directly to existing customers, making it hard for households to know how they compare and if they are better off siwtching.

But, following the letter Ofgem confirmed to MSE that it is now asking suppliers to clearly publish all of their domestic tariffs.

The regulator said: “We will closely monitor the situation, including to make sure that the market is operating competitively on price alongside customer service and innovative products, and to make sure that suppliers are meeting their obligations to the most vulnerable.”

In response, Martin said he was “grateful” to Ofgem for its help in making the energy fixing market more transparent.

He said: “This request means it is on the radar and firms know it will be frowned upon if they don’t publish the tariff info.

“We have already started to receive some commitments from the big firms they will do this.”

Richard Neudegg, director of regulation at Uswitch.com, comments: “When consumers are offered a fixed tariff it’s vital that they can compare it with other offers on the market to help understand whether it’s a good deal. 

“It’s welcome Ofgem has recognised the importance of transparency in helping the market work for consumers. 

“As more fixed deals become available and competition starts to return to the market, it is more important than ever that the consumers have the information they need to take good deals when they are available.” 

It comes as several major suppliers, including British Gas, So Energy, E.on and Ovo, start bringing back existing customer-only fixed deals.

The Sun has contacted all the major energy suppliers to find out when they will publish their current tariffs that are for customers only.

Ovo said it already publishes all of its tariffs on its website, including those for customers only.

While So Energy said it is only offering two fixed deals at the moment, and they are available to both new and existing customers.

We will update this story once we hear back from other suppliers.

The new energy price cap came into force on July 1 and bills will now be capped at £2,074 a year.

The fall in Ofgem’s price cap will reward households battling the cost of living with a £426 annual saving.

Fixed energy tariffs give customers bill stability over a set period.

By locking into a deal you can avoid bill hikes during its set period.

But you could end up being stuck paying more if prices fall in future so it’s important to assess the real value of these offers.

If you’re coming off a fixed energy tariff and don’t renew, you’ll automatically fall onto your supplier’s standard variable tariff (SVT).

The new new rates for those on the SVT are as follows:

• 8p per kilowatt hour (p/kWh) for gas
• 30p/kWh for electricity
• A standing charge of 29p per day for gas
• A standing charge of 53p per day for electricity

For a typical household that uses an average of 12,000kWh of gas and 2,900kWh of electricity every year, these rates will cap bills at roughly £2,074.

But this is only an estimate for a typical household – so if you use more energy you’ll pay more.

Any fixed deal that’s under the typical rate for those on the SVT could be worth locking into, Martin Lewis previously said.

However, before agreeing to a new fix it’s important to understand that Ofgem’s energy price cap will be reviewed again later this year.

The regulator used to set the price cap every six months. But since August last year, it now reviews the cap on unit rates for those on the default tariff every three months.

This means that annual energy bills may drop further into 2023 when the next price cap comes into force in October.

Energy experts at Cornwall Insight expect typical bills to fall again to £1,959.58 a year from October but they could then rise again to £2,026 a year from January 2024.

If you’re happy to stick to the standard variable tariff, we’ve calculated how much less you’ll pay each month from now on,depending on the size of your household.

We’ve also previously listed 30 ways to cut energy bills now.

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