The price cap

On 1 January 2019 our gas and electricity prices changed for customers on any of our standard variable or Fix Again tariffs. This is in line with a new price cap from the regulator, Ofgem. Here’s some more information on what happened and why.

If you’re on one of our standard variable tariffs or Fix Again tariffs, from 1 January the cost of a typical dual fuel energy bill went down by 7.7%, or £98 a year on average.

  • Typical gas bill went down by 8.6%
  • Typical electricity bill went down by 6.8% - including a £12 increase in the standing charge
  • The price cap is a cap per unit of gas and electricity, with standing charges taken into account. It is not a cap on customers’ energy bills, which will still rise or fall in line with their energy consumption

Which tariffs are affected?

The tariffs affected by the price cap are:

  • Standard Variable
  • Juice
  • Fix Again August 2019
  • Fix Again September 2019
  • Feel Good Fix May 2019

But if you’re affected, you’ll have received a letter around the end of November about how the 1 January 2019 price change affects you. You’ll also see your new prices on your bill or statement.

If you’re on any of our other fixed tariffs when the prices change, you won’t be affected until that tariff ends.

Direct Debit Discount changes

If you’re on our Standard Variable or Juice tariff, the price cap also means your Direct Debit discount will change. Currently we reduce your daily standing charge so that over a year you get a fixed £40 off your electricity and £50 off your gas charges, for paying by Direct Debit. But after 1 January 2019 the discount will be included in both the standing charge and the unit rates, so the amount of discount you get will depend on how much energy you use.

If you’re on a fixed price tariff your Direct Debit Discount won’t change.

Our gas and electricity prices changed because of the new price cap, which has been put in place to protect customers on default tariffs or on tariffs with, or linked to standard variable rates. The cap is a limit set by Ofgem on the cost of gas and electricity, which became effective on 1 January 2019, and will be updated every April and October to reflect changes in industry costs - such as wholesale, network and policy costs.

Network and policy costs are making up a bigger and bigger part of your electricity bill. Here’s how a typical bill is made up:

Breakdown of the costs that make up an electricity billBreakdown of the costs that make up a gas bill

These breakdowns are based on an estimate of costs at Ofgem’s annual average consumption - 3,100 kWh for standard rate electricity and 12,000 kWh for mains gas, and also market average margin returns as per Ofgem’s methodology of calculating the default tariff price cap. Learn more about what makes up your energy bill.

The price cap is a limit set by Ofgem to protect customers on default tariffs, or on tariffs with standard variable rates (or linked to standard variable rates). It became effective from 1 January 2019, and will be updated every April and October to reflect changes in industry costs - such as wholesale, network and policy costs.
If you’re affected by the price cap, you’ll have received a letter around the end of November, telling you how the 1 January 2019 price change affects you. You’ll also see your new prices on your bill or statement.
On 1 January 2019, most customers on our Standard Variable tariff will have seen their energy bills come down. But you'll have received a letter if you’re affected.

If you’re on a fixed price tariff, your prices won’t be affected unless you’re on a Fix Again or Feel Good Fix tariff.

Fix Again tariffs

As our Fix Again tariffs are default tariffs, which you may have rolled onto when your last tariff ended, these are also affected by the price cap. If you’re on Fix Again August 2019 or Fix Again September 2019 and are paying more than the new rates put in place by the price cap, you’ll see your prices come down in line with the cap. If you’re on one these tariffs and are currently paying below the new cap rates, your prices will stay the same. Your prices won’t go up whilst you’re on one of these tariffs.

Feel Good Fix tariffs

If you’re on our Feel Good Fix May 2019 tariff you’ll see your prices come down as a result of the price cap on standard variable prices. This is because your tariff is linked to our standard variable rates. Your prices won’t go up whilst you’re on this tariff.

If you’re on any of our other fixed tariffs when the prices change, you won’t be affected until that tariff ends.