Electric heating bills higher if your supplier is one of the “Big six”

As the wholesale price of electricity has fallen lately, you’d think that your electric heating bills would too. The wholesale price drop should save you at least £140 a year. Unfortunately, if your supplier is one of the larger companies, it’s likely that they have pocketed the cash instead.

We’ve always advised our customers to use online comparison websites to ensure that they get the best deal on their home energy. Getting the right tariff is vital if you want to reduce your electric heating costs. In our experience, it’s always the smaller independent suppliers that provide the lowest prices.

Energy suppliers buy the electricity that you use from the wholesale market. The market is made up of suppliers, generators, traders and customers trading on the competitive market. Unfortunately, once acquired at the lowest price seen in years, the big six energy companies continue to charge you full-rate.

“If the price falls were passed on, customers would see bills fall by at least £140 a year”

The big six energy companies keep their prices high. It’s been said for years that they work as a cartel – agreeing between them to keep the prices high in order to maximise profits. Smaller UK-based energy suppliers have demonstrated a much more competitive approach, and whilst not all of them have jumped at the chance to pass on savings from their wholesale buy prices, they have at least entered the market with lower prices from the off, and some are now offering further reductions.

In an article published recently by The Guardian, TheEnergyShop.com’s Joe Malinowski said if the price falls were passed on, customers would see bills fall by at least £140 a year.

He added that he had never seen such large savings available to those prepared to ditch their big six supplier, and that those on standard tariffs could save as much as £320 a year by shopping around. The combination of the big firms' refusal to cut standard bills and a host of great offers from small players has resulted in the largest price disparity since switching began.

At ElectricHeatingExpert.co.uk we hear about the best and worst energy deals from our customers every day. If you’d like some friendly, impartial advice on how you could make savings on your electric heating bill, we will be happy to help.