British Gas cuts energy tariffs

British Gas owner Centrica has announced another price cut, meaning electricity tariffs will fall 6 per cent and gas by 3 per cent.

It follows a six-month slide in wholesale energy prices and Centrica said in conjunction with British Gas cuts brought in earlier this year, the average dual fuel bill will be reduced by £207 a year.

British Gas has around ten million gas customers and almost six million electricity accounts but has come under fire for not passing on savings quickly enough.

Rivals npower, Powergen and Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE) have also announced plans to cut their standard tariffs.

Scottish Power and EDF Energy have so far not moved to reduce bills, prompting UK energy watchdog Ofgem to recommend earlier this week that their customers switch to other suppliers.

Wholesale prices have fallen dramatically since new gas import pipelines from Norway and the Netherlands opened in the latter half of 2006, reversing a surge in prices on the back of tight supplies because of declining UK output.

And prices could come down further as as another large Norwegian field, Ormen Lange, begins production in the winter while new liquefied natural gas import facilities open.

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