Price of cheap energy starts to creep up
Consumers are being urged to snap up a competitive energy plan while they can, as a second supplier has moved to push its online prices upwards.
While standard prices remain steady at £1,252 a year, online prices have started to creep upwards, hitting £1,091 a year today.
The latest move comes today with ScottishPower pulling its Online Fixed Price Energy July 2013, a fixed price online plan costing £1,055 a year, and replacing it with Online Fixed Price Energy August 2013, which will cost £1,086 a year on average - an increase of £31 a year. However, even at an average of £1,091 a year, online plans still offer great value coming in at £161 a year cheaper than the average standard plan.
Emma Bush, energy expert at uSwitch.com, says: "This move follows Ovo Energy's recent price hike so will no doubt leave consumers feeling a bit jittery over where household energy prices are heading. The fact is that small suppliers and the competitive online plans offered by the big six are usually where you first see signs of trouble ahead.
"Online plans are always competitive, but because they are so keenly priced they are also the first to reflect any volatility in the market, which is why we have started to see online prices creeping up. The good news though is that online plans still offer a £161 saving on standard prices. But what it does mean is that now is the right time to be snapping up one of these deals as we could see online prices climbing higher.
"The biggest question on everyone's lips is what this upward trend in the online market means for general household energy prices. The truth is that it is too soon to say - while wholesale prices have increased we don't yet know whether we are looking at a short-term blip or an ongoing trend. SSE has already promised not to increase its prices before October this year, but the fact is that suppliers would need to see a consistent trend in substantially higher wholesale prices before they could justify a general price hike."