Npower to cut gas prices

Mar 10 2010 by Iain Laing, The Journal

ENERGY firm npower has became the fourth major UK provider to cut gas prices as it announced a reduction of up to 7% in standard bills.

The move, which will take place on March 26, will see npower’s two million residential gas customers pay on average £50 less.

It is also overhauling its discounts for those who pay by monthly direct debit, which will see the 12-month anniversary discount available to electricity customers double to £40, equivalent to 4.8% off their electricity bill.

Npower’s cut comes after British Gas, E.ON and Scottish & Southern Energy reduced prices in recently.

Today’s announcement will reduce tariffs by 6.7% on average for npower’s single fuel gas customers who pay quarterly on receipt of their bill. It added that, by taking into account the additional discounts offered for paying monthly by direct debit, the average npower gas bill reduces by 7.8%.

Dual fuel customers will benefit from a 7.1% cut on average, including the changes to the monthly direct debit discounts.

The group has 100,000 out of two million gas customers on monthly direct debit payment plans, which allows households to pay a flat rate every month throughout the year – reviewed every six months to check cost against usage.

Around 350,000 out of 4.2 million electricity customers pay by monthly direct debit.