Martin Lewis, the founder of Money Saving Expert, has warned about the rising Ofgem energy price cap.
As we head towards Christmas, Lewis issued a fresh £101 warning to British Gas, OVO, EDF, EON Next, and Octopus customers.
As reported by Birmingham Live, Martin said: "NEWS: As long predicted, its now official Ofgem's Price Cap rises 1.2 per cent from 1 January (on top of 1 October per cent rise). So for every £100 paid now, it'll cost £101.20. The rise is via increasing the unit rates. New average direct debit rates for electricityL Standing charge 61p/day | Unit rate 24.9p/kwH.
Will energy standing charges be cut? There was no news in today's 1.2% rise January Price Cap announcement, but I do expect to hear the results of the Ofgem consultation before the year's out. Though sadly, I'm cautiously pessimistic. Here's a mix of a briefing and my thoughts...…
— Martin Lewis (@MartinSLewis) November 22, 2024
"Gas standing charge 31.7p/day | Unit rate 6.3p/kwH (though it varies by region and payment method) This hits the 80% of England, Scotland and Wales homes who are on standard (non fixed/special) tariffs. Current predictions are the Price Cap will rise again on 1 April by a couple of per cent, then drop slightly in July and slightly again in October.
"Even then it's still expected to be slightly MORE than now. So over the next year it's predicted you will pay a couple of percent more than now on average. The cheapest fixed tariffs available right now are around 5% LESS than the current price cap.
"Therefore the simple thing to do is lock into a fix now to save money and guarantee no future hikes."
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Following Ofgem’s announcement this morning that the energy price cap will rise from 1 January by £21 a year to £1,738 for a typical household, So Energy, a tech-led, customer-centric energy supplier offering fair tariffs and green products, have commented on the rise.
So Energy’s CEO and Co-Founder Simon Oscroft said: “Unfortunately, with today’s news confirming the price cap will rise slightly in January, high energy prices look like they are here to stay. So Energy has consistently priced fairly and transparently, and our latest tariff – So Tomato will beat the new price cap level by almost £100 for most customers.
"As the temperatures drop and the heating cranks up, we urge all customers to check if they're on their supplier’s best deal and check the wider market.”
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