EDF Energy makes a firm commitment to customers

EDF Energy's announcement that it will help its most vulnerable customers by automatically giving them its cheapest prices is great news, says uSwitch.com.

Ann Robinson, Director of Consumer Policy at uSwitch.com, says: "This new initiative from EDF Energy is very welcome as it means that vulnerable and elderly customers, who are the least able to shop around for a better deal for themselves, will automatically get its best prices. This is a real step change for the industry and a genuine attempt to put vulnerable customers first. 

"The launch of EDF Energy's new Blue + Price Promise plan is further good news. The supplier has pledged to inform customers on its new plan if they could be more than £1 a week better off by moving to another supplier. This is an unprecedented level of transparency and could go some way to helping to rebuild trust in the energy market. The move could also help more consumers to engage with the competitive market as they start to see what savings are available.

"However, there is a note of caution. Because EDF Energy will base its assumptions on typical usage, it's important that consumers don't base their decisions on this information, but go on to get an impartial comparison based on their own personal circumstances. This is the only way to be sure that they will be better off and it's important that consumers understand this if we are to see greater engagement and trust in the market.

"Overall, however, EDF Energy is to be applauded for today's moves. It is clearly taking the issues facing the market seriously and has laid out a firm commitment to tackling them and to ensuring that consumers start to get a fairer and better deal."