npower announces cuts to standard annual gas bill of average 5.1%

npower has announced an average 5.1% or £35 average annual reduction to its standard domestic gas tariff. This will be effective from Monday 16 February. This is the largest percentage price cut by any major energy supplier announced recently.

The reduction means that on average the annual standard npower domestic gas tariff is now £667 per year, down from £702.

This reduction has been made possible by the reduction in the wholesale price of gas, balanced against increases in transportation and distribution costs.  

Paul Massara, CEO RWE npower said: “Today’s announcement means we can get the benefits we are seeing in the wholesale market to our customers pockets as soon as possible.  We have balanced this wholesale price fall against increases in the other costs we are charged.  If there are further falls in wholesale prices, we will keep these under review to see if we can cut further. “

Stephen Murray, energy expert at MoneySuperMarket said: “Today's cut is an improvement on those that have gone before but it's still far from the level it could be.

"While a saving of 5.1 per cent is of course a step in the right direction, it’s a drop in the ocean compared to the fact that wholesale prices have dropped by 20 per cent in the last year.

“Effective from 16th February 2015 npower customers will see overall energy bills fall by £36 a year if paying by monthly direct debit (£1,205 a year, down to £1,169).

“But households don't need to wait for cuts from the energy firms to take effect. Instead, bill payers could give themselves a much bigger price cut by taking five minutes to shop around for the best energy deal for them. The savings are there for the taking – an average standard monthly direct debit customer could typically wipe £266 off their bills by switching to Extra Energy’s Fresh Fixed Price Jan 2016 v9.”