Confused.com: UK energy prices

Gareth Kloet, energy expert at Confused.com, comments on the latest statistics from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development which found that energy prices in the UK have increased by 29.7% in the past year - twice as fast as the European Union's 15% average increase: "The latest statistics from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development are concerning; in fact, this 15% anomaly between UK and European energy prices reopens the debate into the factors which are responsible for fuelling spiralling energy costs for consumers in the UK.

"Ofgem's recent probe into the UK energy market concluded that the Big Six energy providers have been cleared of price fixing, but there is still some way to go before the industry can be deemed open and fair to all customers. Ofgem believes that empowering consumers with knowledge - such as clearer information on customer bills, sending out annual statements and promoting confidence in price comparison sites - will be a significant step forward for energy companies. Confused.com supports this wholeheartedly, and looks forward to working closely with Ofgem, but believes that even more can be done.

"Although suppliers should have a responsibility to ease the financial squeeze on consumers, not least when it comes to trying to alleviate the burden on the most vulnerable by offering much-improved social tariffs, it is up to the consumers themselves to do as much as they can to mitigate the impact of these price rises.

"Becoming more energy efficient, and shopping around for the most suitable and cheapest tariff, has never been more important and with more than 14,000 tariffs on the market, customers should regularly check that they are on the right tariff for their level of energy consumption. Customers who switched suppliers for gas and electricity through Confused.com, since the start of the year, have saved on average £296; demonstrating that shopping around in order to get the best deal, to minimise the impact of price rises, can offer some respite to an ongoing problem."