moneysupermarket.com: E.ON online energy product

Commenting on today's launch of E.ON's new online energy product, Scott Byrom, manager of utilities at price comparison site moneysupermarket.com said: "British Gas has been nudged to third place with the launch of Save Online from E.ON which changes the landscape for the best utilities products currently on the market.

"EDF Energy still has the gold medal for cheapest tariff with its ‘fly by night' product - this product is unlikely to remain on the market for long and the provider has the right to pull it at any time. The new tariff from E.ON takes silver and challenges British Gas, now beating it by 97 pence on average in all regions.

"It will be interesting to see how the rest of the market reacts to this change. With British Gas yet to move in the recent online pricing war, and it's long-standing tradition of striving to offer British bill payers the best value online energy deals the market has to offer, we expect to see British Gas retaliate to regain its position at the top spot as cheapest utilities provider.

"All this activity is great news for bill payers and is perfectly timed for all the UK customers poised to come off a fixed energy tariff. Bill payers need to be aware that the big increases they could face when their current deal ends could wipe out any savings that they made when they fixed last year. Customers on Scottish Power's Fixed Price 2009 deal, the next to end on August 31, could see their bills rise by £340 a year."