Wholesale energy price reductions ‘should be passed on to consumers’

Leading energy suppliers should tell their customers when bills will start to drop in the interests of “transparency and fairness”, according to energy minister Fergus Ewing.

Wholesale gas prices have fallen almost 30 per cent in the last year, while wholesale electricity prices have dropped around eight per cent over the same period.

With E.ON announcing it is to lower household gas prices by 5.1 per cent from February, Mr Ewing has written to chief executives of the UK’s leading energy suppliers calling for reductions to be passed on to customers.

Mr Ewing said: “With wholesale gas and electricity costs falling, customers are entitled to know when they can expect to reap the benefits.

“Significantly lower wholesale prices should lead to lower bills and I want to see cost savings passed on to customers in full and as early as possible.

“In the interests of transparency and fairness, I have asked the leading energy suppliers to identify how these reductions are likely to be reflected in lower energy bills for households and businesses in Scotland.”