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Npower promises price freeze to 2015 Government pledges £50 fuel bill cut
(35 minutes later)
UK energy firm Npower says it will not raise prices any more until spring 2015 unless wholesale costs go up. 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.