Confused.com: Scottish Power energy price cuts

Today's announcement by Scottish Power that it is set to reduce prices for its gas and electricity from 31 March 2009 is welcome news for households across the UK who are struggling to meet their energy bills.

Scottish Power is only the second provider to announce reductions across both gas and electricity and follows British Gas' lead.

Gareth Kloet, head of utilities, at Confused.com, says: "Whilst Scottish Power has announced price reductions of 7.5% for gas and 3% for electricity, customers are still paying, on average, over £1000 per year for their energy.

"At this point, five of the big six energy providers have announced price reductions, with four all coming in to effect on 31 March 2009. We would urge customers to consider today's announcement as a wake up call to shop around and switch to a more competitive provider or tariff. The key is to switch early in order to take full advantage of the reductions as soon as possible.

"The message is simple; there is no benefit in waiting around for the reductions to take effect. If customers want to make savings as soon as possible, they need to take matters into their own hands and choose a competitive supplier and tariff now.

"In some cases, they may not even need to switch supplier - simply moving to an online dual fuel tariff and paying by direct debit can bring substantial savings. Customers don't need to wait until the price changes become effective; they can and should act today as it can take up to 28 days for energy suppliers to complete the switch. Comparison sites will not cost consumers anything but a few minutes of their time but it could save consumers significant amounts of money and, crucially, could encourage energy providers to become more competitive in the future."