EDF blasted for underwhelming planned reduction to gas prices
CONSUMER groups have hit out at EDF Energy’s proposed 1.3 per cent reduction in gas prices for being too little, too late.
The company announced yesterday that it was cutting its prices, becoming the last of the Big Six energy firms to do so. The drop in EDF’s standard variable gas price will come into effect from 11 February.
In a statement yesterday, the firm said the reduction was linked to the recent falls in wholesale gas costs, but added: “However, the vast majority of gas that EDF Energy bought for its customers was purchased well in advance and at previously higher prices. This, and the low standard prices already offered by EDF Energy, has limited the size of today’s reduction.”
Of the Big Six, EDF’s price cut is the smallest, while Npower made the biggest cut, wiping 5.1 per cent off its customers’ bills. Stephen Murray, energy expert at MoneySuperMarket said EDF’s reduction was “truly the most underwhelming of the lot” and added that it was “an absolutely paltry price cut in comparison to the 20 per cent fall in wholesale prices that we have seen”. He continued: “On top of that, we see that bill payers will again not feel the full benefit of lower bills immediately.”
USwitch’s Ann Robinson said: “It’s now official that standard tariff customers simply aren’t getting a fair deal. These meagre reductions are too little, too late and must be increased.”