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Five questions answered on Scottish Power’s latest price cuts

By how much is Scottish Power cutting its prices?

By Heidi Vella

Scottish Power has announced it is to become the fourth energy supplier to cut the price of one of its tariffs. We answer five questions on the energy company’s latest price cut.

By how much is Scottish Power cutting its prices?

According to the company, customers on its standard duel fuel tariff will see a reduction of £54 off their annual bill from 31 January.

The price drop will not include customers who are on a fixed rate tariffs. However, Scottish Power has assured 97 per cent of customers on a fixed tariff were already paying less than those on standard tariffs.

Why has Scottish Power cut its prices?

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To bring the price of its tariffs in line with government changes to green levies announced in December.

However, the price drop will only partly counteract a Scottish Power price rise of 8.6 per cent which came into effect as of December last year.

What has Scottish Power said about its price changes?

In an online statement Scottish Power’s CEO of Energy Retail and Generation, Neil Clitheroe, said:

“Following the Government’s recent announcement on reducing the impact of green and social levies on consumer energy bills, we will be passing these cost reductions on to customers this month.

“We recognise that we need to continue to work hard to reduce bills for our customers through offering competitive fixed priced products and comprehensive energy efficiency advice. As part of this ongoing commitment, we will try to avoid any further price rises in 2014 but this will depend on whether there are increases in wholesale energy prices or other costs outside of our control.”

Which other energy companies have cut prices recently?

British Gas and SSE have both announced price cuts for customers regardless of what tariff they are on. SSE said it will cut prices by around 4 per cent from the beginning of April.

EDF and E.On have cut prices for those on standard or variable rates, the same as Scottish Power.

Npower has failed to announce price cuts, saying it is still reviewing its prices. In the autumn 2013 the company raised its prices by 10.4 per cent.

What have the experts said?

MoneySuperMarket has called on energy suppliers to follow the example of British Gas and SSE, and cut all their tariffs, not just standard duel fuel tariffs.

The price comparison website has launched an epetition in a bid to get all suppliers to do this.

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