New Eon tracker tariff announced

Gareth Kloet, head of energy at Confused.com says "The introduction of a new tariff from Eon has further muddied the waters when it comes to determining who is offering the best price energy.

“With British Gas trumpeting the message that they have had the cheapest standard electricity for 50  of 52 weeks and Eon's Track and Save v5 guaranteeing to be cheaper than British Gas, how are customers expected to feel confident about switching? Track and Save 5 tracks lower than British Gas' standard prices until August 2011 at which point customers will be reverted back to Eon's more expensive standard prices .

“To add a further level of confusion, those who select Eon's newest tariff should take note of the heavyweight caveat that states that Eon can only actually guarantee the tariff will work out cheaper for customers with an above average consumption.

“British Gas have ushered energy prices into the spotlight once again by advertising their standard tariffs. The danger is that this will have customers lose sight of the fact that the best deals are still only available online. By heralding standard tariffs, energy providers are advertising the best of the worst. It seems an impressive claim by Eon, to track lower than a tariff that British Gas are going on record to say has been the cheapest for almost a year. However with an average bill of £1,050, it's really not that exciting a saving, especially considering the current overall best buy is currently £876 per annum from NPower. The only answer, when it comes to cutting through all these levels of mixed messaging, is to use an accredited comparison site like Confused.com to shop online for the deal that's best for you.”