EDF Energy release two new tariffs

Gareth Kloet, head of Utilities comments "In response to recent market changes, EDF Energy's new tariffs will appeal to both the best buy shopper and those looking for the security of fixed rate deals.

Its new Online Saver v6 tariff is a best buy in 8 out of the 14 regions and offers a guaranteed 2% discount off EDF Energy's standard rates until June 2011.  As it is a tracker tariff, if EDF do follow the example already set by British Gas and cut their standard rates in the future, it will become even cheaper.  Although this tariff has an exit fee of £25 per fuel (£50 for a combined fuel switch), it will be appealing to many customers looking for a competitive deal.

In contrast to Online Saver, its new Fixed Price 2015 tariff offers customers fixed rates until 30th June 2015. Whilst not a winner in terms of price, it's the longest guaranteed period currently on offer in the market place and will therefore appeal to those that believe energy prices will rise in the longer term.  However, this tariff could prove to be a gamble as there is dissention amongst industry experts as to whether prices are destined to rise or fall in the short to medium term.  On the downside, it has expensive exit penalties in the early years (£100 in yr1, £75 in yr2 and £50 in yr3 per fuel).   The good news for the cautious, who wish to opt for this in a bid to make long term budgeting easier, is that there are no cancellation penalties for leaving after the intital 3 years so it's not necessarily as restrictive as it seems on the surface.

With EDF Energy putting another good proposition online, there's no doubt that this is the area to watch for customers looking to get the best deal on the market. Whilst British Gas have blazed a trail with lowering their standard prices, there is no guarantee that other providers are going to follow suit.

Whilst customers are content to languish on standard tariffs and not seek out better deals, energy providers will have no incentive to compete with each other and therefore initiate change.  This is yet another example of the energy providers ploughing all their best deals into the online market in a bid to catch the savvy shopper."