Npower announce price rise reduction of 2.6%

Customers on a standard variable tariff with the company will be entitled to a 2.6% reduction on their bills from February, with it being thought that over 2.5 million people will benefit from the change.

However, customers who are currently on a fixed rate tariff will not be entitled to lower bill payments, with Npower identifying that they will only be able to receive the £12 government rebate that all bill payers are being given.

Npower became the 4th energy provider of the countryís big six to announce price rises back in December, with the 10.4% increase representing the steepest hike of all of them.

It has been estimated that Npowerís bill reduction will save the average dual fuel customer around £33 a year, which equates to a total of £45 when taking into account the £12 government rebate.

ëNew ECO unconfirmedí

Npowerís announcement means that all of the countryís ëbig sixí have now signalled bill reductions in the future, though the length of time taken for the savings to be passed on has been attacked by the Labour party, who believe that it should have begun at the start of the year.

However, Npower have defended their conduct and pointed out that the details of changes in the Energy Company Obligation had yet to be finalised by the government.

"The Government are currently consulting on these changes, and changes to primary legislation will be required," a spokesperson said.

Earlier this week, SSE became the 5th of the countryís ëbig sixí to announce bill reductions for its customers, and reiterated the same sentiments as Npower about why they had taken so long to make an announcement. 

They also called for the government to stop obligating energy companies with policies until that time that people were better off and less vulnerable to fuel poverty.

An SSE spokesperson read: "All government levies should be moved off bills so that they are paid for fairly and progressively and the fuel poor are better protected. Itís the right thing to do and has almost unanimous support from customers, charities and consumer groups," Mr Morris said. "Iím yet to hear a single convincing argument against it."

This notion was supported by Npower chief, Paul Massara, who has called for the government to review all its policies that financially oblige energy companies, citing this as the right step to follow in order to continue the process of reducing consumer bills as much as possible. 

This reduction is a reflection of the recent review of two government policies and their impact on household energy bills and it is a welcome start," said Mr Massara.

"The natural next step would be to review all the impact of all policies that add to business and household energy bills."

Mr Massara also confirmed that the company would not be applying any further rises to its customerís bills to at least the second quarter of 2015, although he did concede that they would be forced to renege on this if wholesale energy costs increase significantly in the upcoming year.