Beat the Energy Price Cap With a Better Energy Deal
The Energy Price Cap gets updated every three months, but estimates suggest it’s likely to stay at a similar level for the rest of the year. However, some energy companies are offering fixed deals that undercut the cap. Before you sign up to anything, it’s worth looking in detail about whether any are good for you.
Why Go Beneath the Price Cap?
The current April 2024 price cap is at £1,690 for the average household. This is based on average use, so if you use more, you’ll pay more. The days of averages below £1,000 are but a distant memory, so finding ways of paying less for your energy is always advantageous.
With more security in the energy market, various suppliers are looking for ways to attract customers and sustain business. By locking in households to prices that are lower than the national average, they can offer substantial savings for prices that are only going to increase.
Cornwall Insight Predictions
Cornwall Insight provides the predictions for where the price cap is going to go. They constantly analyse the energy market to provide up-to-date figures on what people might pay for the rest of the year. As such, these can go up or down fairly frequently.
Based on 26th March prices, their forecast for quarter three for 2024 is £1,559. For quarter four, this then goes up to £1,631. As it stands, this means the cap will lower slightly before going up again.
Current Deals
Outfox the Market
Undercutting the price cap by a potential 13%, this fixed dual fuel deal offers both gas and electricity at cheaper rates. Electricity is 13% cheaper, at 21.22p/unit, while gas is 9% cheaper, at 5.55p/kWh.
In terms of standing charges, these are 60p/day for electricity and 30.94p/day for gas, which is barely anything less than the current cap.
Based on Cornwall Insight predictions, this fixed deal can save consumers £15.67 a year between July and October and £92.50 between October and December. At any rate, there are savings to be made.
EDF
EDF’s Essentials 1 year fix runs until next May and fixes you at £1,580. This is around 7% less than the average. It’s available for both dual fuel and electric-only customers.
With £110 off the current price cap, you can benefit from over £50 off in Q4 and then the first three months of 2025. The only downside is that Cornwall Insight’s estimate puts Q3’s average lower than EDF’s fix, so you’ll be paying more. The discounts will probably cancel out any extra though, but overall you’ll be slightly better off.
British Gas
With a yearly fix that’s 5% less than the price cap, you can save an average of £85 (according to British Gas). They also offer to switch you for free to a cheaper deal if one becomes available later on.
Generate Your Own Electricity
The easiest way to bypass the energy price cap and cut your bills is to make use of solar panels. By relying on the Sun to generate electricity, you can save around £1,029 off your total bill.
If you’re interested in going solar, why not click on the button below to find out how much you’d pay? It only takes a minute.