Scottish Power challenges EON's fixed tariff dominance

Gareth Kloet, head of utilities at Confused.com, comments on Scottish Power's recently launched Online Energy Saver 5 tariff: "Scottish Power has released a new capped tariff which is set to rival EON's competitive Fixed Online energy tariff.

"The new Online Energy Saver 5 tariff from Scottish Power is the cheapest capped tariff in six out of the fourteen regions across the UK, rivaled only by EON's Fixed Online tariff which was launched at the end of March. However, Scottish Power's new tariff will only be available to dual fuel customers who are willing to manage their accounts online.

"Despite this latest move in the energy price war signaling good news - and indeed more choice - for consumers, it must not go unnoticed that both EON and Scottish Power have chosen to ‘lead' with competitive tariffs which are capped until June 2010. While this represents a good option for consumers who expect prices to rise over the course of the next year, or so, it is far more likely that energy companies are gearing up for some more price cuts over the next couple of months.

"The energy price war seems to have turned colder, of late, with weeks rather than days having passed between the latest price reductions, or introduction of new energy tariffs. We expect this to be the calm before the storm of renewed energy price warfare in the summer which can, again, only be good news for financially squeezed households which saw their energy bills rise by more than 40% last year.

"With a frenzy of price cuts expected to resume over the next couple of months, it is more important than ever to shop around for the most suitable deal in the market. In fact, the average customer who switched energy providers or tariffs with Confused.com saves a whopping £252.37."