Officials from one of the UK’s big six energy giants has said that it may be able to cut the cost of energy usage for its customers as early as the first part of 2009 if the cost of wholesale energy continues to fall. Like other suppliers, Scottish and Southern has increased prices twice this year, leaving its nine million customers facing huge bills.
Chief Executive Ian Marchant said that wholesale energy prices had been falling for a number of weeks now, and could help to bring the cost of domestic energy use down. He said: “If the downward trend in wholesale prices is maintained, I’m optimistic of price reductions for domestic customers during the early part of next year.”
A senior official from the watchdog group, Consumer Focus, has called for energy prices to be cut as quickly as possible. However, an official from the Energy Retail Association said: “Consumer Focus has no evidence on which to raise consumers’ expectations that a cut in energy prices is possible. This is a simplification too far. There would need to be a sustained fall in wholesale gas prices before energy companies could consider any price changes.”
The cost of crude oil per barrel plummeted after reaching its peak in the summer, and many officials and watchdog groups have expressed concern that the cost of energy usage has not come down in line with that, with consumers still paying a fortune over the winter season.
