Energy customers 'lose £200 a year'

Householders are losing out on around £200 per year because energy firms haven't cut bills in line with wholesale price reductions, a report says.

Price comparison website uSwitch.com says the big energy firms are holding prices at an "inflated" level.

Recent price cuts have brought average annual energy bills down from £1,013 to £935, it says.

But it adds that suppliers must make further reductions averaging £200 per year to pass all the wholesale cuts on to their customers.

Depending on their supplier, customers are still paying between 33% and 53% more on fuel bills than they were before January 2005, uSwitch.com says.

The firm's director of consumer policy Ann Robinson said customers are not getting a fair deal.

"It's not unreasonable to expect some generous reductions now that wholesale costs have fallen.

"Instead, suppliers are handing back a derisory £78 and are using smoke and mirrors to obscure the fact that they are still pocketing an extra £200 per household," she said.

But the Energy Retail Association (ERA) which represents all the major suppliers said the uSwitch.com report should be taken with a pinch of salt.

ERA chief executive Duncan Sedgwick said suppliers had been slow to pass on wholesale price hikes to consumers.