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Government pledges £50 fuel bill cut | |
(35 minutes later) | |
The government has unveiled a package of measures which it says will cut energy bills by a total of £50 a year for the average household. | |
Some subsidies for those in fuel poverty will be moved into general taxation and some green policy targets will be slowed down. | |
Homebuyers could instead be granted £1,000 to spend on energy-saving measures. | |
A number of major suppliers have promised to pass on the savings. | |
Npower says it will not raise prices any more until spring 2015 unless wholesale costs go up. | |
The company introduced a planned price rise of 10.4% over the weekend, but it says that will be reduced, once it has worked out how much changes to government policy will save it. | The company introduced a planned price rise of 10.4% over the weekend, but it says that will be reduced, once it has worked out how much changes to government policy will save it. |
Rival power suppliers SSE and Centrica have said they will also pass on cost reductions. | |
EDF has indicated it will not raise prices again before 2015. | |
The Energy Minister, Ed Davey, told the BBC the planned moves would save households an average of £50 on fuel bills. | |
Currently the average dual fuel bill for households is £1,340. | |
Some of the saving will come in the form of a reduction in the Energy Companies Obligation (ECO), which requires energy companies to provide insulation or other energy-saving measures to 400,000 homes a year. | |
In future, these measures will be paid for by a tax-funded programme of £500m, and will be granted via an average £1,000 stamp duty rebate for home buyers who need to improve energy efficiency at their new property. |