Energy News

Energy bills will tell you if you should switch

Thursday 01 July 2010

By Dominic Welling - dominic.welling@consumerchoices.co.uk

It’s out with your old, boring bills and in with annual statements with information on cheaper tariffs and payment methods.

Energy customers are to get improved bills and annual statements from their suppliers.

The new energy bills will explain how much energy a customer has used, what it costs, and how much they are likely to pay over the next year.

Suppliers will also be required to alert customers to any discounts and to prompt them to switch to a cheaper tariff or payment method if one is available.

Sarah Harrison, senior partner of sustainable development at Ofgem, said: “We want customers to have a much better picture of their energy consumption and how much they are spending.

“Clearer bills and annual statements will put all this information at their fingertips so they can compare energy deals more easily when they are thinking of switching.”

Ofgem has introduced the package of measures to better protect customers, following its investigation into the energy retail market in 2008,

Energy companies have from today until December at the latest to supply customers with their first annual energy statement.

Both the new annual statements and improved more transparent bills will include:

• The exact name of the customer’s tariff
• A figure showing how much electricity a customer has used in the previous 12 months
• A snapshot of how much the customer is likely to spend over the next year.

The additional information suppliers will provide in the annual statement will include:

• The terms of the customer’s existing contract
• Details of any premium or discount compared to the supplier’s standard monthly direct debit tariff
• And a reminder that customers can switch supplier with sources of independent advice on how to go about it.