Watchdog - Downloadable energy letters

Robert Hammond from Consumer Focus is in the studio to discuss his disappointment that the energy companies are not passing on the reduction in fuel costs to consumers.

We asked the big six energy companies when they will reduce gas and electricity bills for all of us in line with the reduction in fuel costs. Their answers were a bit vague. So, if this is something you feel strongly about - print the letter off, send it to your current energy supplier.

Click on the relevant letter in the list below and the letter will open in a new browser window. Simply copy and paste from acrobat using the text tool to add your details and then print them off.

Note: The supply of gas and electricity in Northern Ireland is regulated in a different way to the rest of the UK, so there is no template letter to send. Prices can be higher because of a lack of competition and because of the ways in which energy companies in Northern Ireland have to buy their energy. However, there are limits on the profit margins of gas and electricity suppliers and savings in the wholesale costs the companies pay are passed on to customers.

• Letter to British Gas
• Letter to EDF Energy
• Letter to E.ON
• Letter to nPower
• Letter to Scottish and Southern Energy
• Letter to Scottish Power

Lots of you have contacted us in the past to say the you prefer our downloadable letters in an RTF format. These are in the list below. While they are easy to edit, be aware that you may lose the format of the letter.

• Letter to British Gas
• Letter to EDF Energy
• Letter to E.ON
• Letter to nPower
• Letter to Scottish and Southern Energy
• Letter to Scottish Power

Watch the Watchdog report on energy prices, when Nicky Campbell plays 'Guess the leccy' game on the streets, followed by an interview with Dr Garry Felgate to find out why customer prices are not dropping in line with what companies pay.

And come back to this page later tonight (Monday 30 March 2009), when we'll have a live interview with a Robert Hammond from Consumer Focus.

Read the following rundown on how much the six major energy suppliers are reducing their prices by:

Npower

Npower announced on 16 March that it is to reduce its electricity prices by eight per cent from 31 March. This means that customers' electricity bills will come down by £43 on average.

They say that as a result of these new prices Npower's monthly direct debit dual fuel tariff is more than £30 cheaper than that of British Gas.

Scottish Power

Scottish Power announced on 19 March reductions to its gas and electricity prices effective from 31 March 2009. Prices for gas customers dropped an average of 7.5 per cent and electricity bills by an average of three per cent. They say customers will see an annual average saving of £54.

EDF Energy

EDF Energy announced on 13 February 2009 a cut in its prices for its standard rate electricity customers of up to 12.5 per cent. The average change is a reduction of 8.8 per cent. The decrease will take effect from 31 March 2009. They told Watchdog: "2.3 million of EDF Energy's 5 million customers will experience price deductions [sic] as a result of this announcement. Unlike BG, our vulnerable customers on our social tariff, Energy Assist, will benefit from this price decrease."

E.ON

E.ON announced on 12 February it will cut its electricity price by nine per cent for the majority of its residential standard, online and pre-payment meter customers, effective from 31 March 2009. E.ON has not announced a gas price decrease, but they claim on their press release that, on average, gas prices remain cheaper than British Gas' post-decrease prices.

Scottish & Southern Energy

Scottish & Southern Energy will reduce its prices for domestic electricity and gas customers on 30 March 2009. Average prices for electricity customers will fall by nine per cent and for gas customers they will fall by four per cent for all standard customers.

British Gas

Its standard dual-fuel and pre-pay gas prices fell by 10 per cent on 19 February 2009. Its online tariffs Click Energy5 will fall by 6.6 per cent and Click Energy6 by 3.6 per cent. Those who pay by monthly direct debit had their monthly payment automatically reduced on 19 February.

Response from Consumer Focus:

In response to the latest announcements, Audrey Gallacher of Consumer Focus told Watchdog: "I think what consumers really need to know is, well, what price did you pay, am I paying a fair price just now? And I think that's the real difficulty - we just don't know."