Energy Price increase across the Big Six

The term ‘Big Six’ refers to the six energy giants dominating the home energy market in the UK. The energy giant companies include British Gas, Scottish Power, SSE, NPower, EDF Energy and E.on. In recent months we have seen an increase in prices from all the ‘big six’ energy companies with the latest price increase announcement of 6.7% coming in from SSE.

Talking on the increases, Shailesh Ramani, Founder of FreePriceCompare said: “Like we have seen time and time again, the moment you see one energy supplier increase prices, the others follow suit.
“Now that SSE has increased prices too, we can now see which energy company is the most expensive by basing calculations on Ofgem’s medium user, that selects the dual fuel option and pays by monthly direct debit which the cheapest way to pay for the energy usage.

“Regardless of this, energy customers need to be aware that energy prices on the standard variable tariff are almost always on the most expensive on offer. By simply spending 5 minutes to compare and switch suppliers, customers can save up to £468 a year.”

Big Six energy grid

From the grid below you can see the biggest increase has been contributed by SSE but the most expensive energy supplier remains to be NPower. Overall the average price increase is 4.7% taking the average household bill to £1,185.

How can I get around the price hike?

Regardless of which energy supplier you are with, the standard variable tariff is the most expensive tariff offered by your energy supplier and there are no exit charges so it is highly recommended that you compare and switch to a cheaper supplier. Alternatively you can stay with your current provider but switch to their fixed rate tariffs which will not be the cheapest in the market but it will be cheaper than the company’s standard variable tariff.

Switching to a cheaper energy deal is very easy with FreePriceCompare as you can actually compare and select the cheapest supplier from our results page in 5 minutes.

Once selected, FreePriceCompare will handle the whole process for you, including letting your previous supplier know that you would like to switch energy suppliers. The whole process takes around 21 days and you are guaranteed to be never left without gas or electricity supply.

Please note if you are in a contract, you can be subjected to exit fees so you can either wait for the contract to come up for renewal or you can switch now if the savings are significant. Remember tariffs can go up in price, so if you can save a lot of money by paying the exit fees then it is worth a serious consideration.