Utility consumers given regional rip off advice
(24 August 2007)

Several utility providers charge customers in their home regions an extra ten per cent for power, according to new research.

Price watchdog uSwitch.com has found that by using the previous regional system for electricity, suppliers are making an average £446 million extra a year.

By varying prices from region to region, electricity firms benefit from £32 extra per customer ever year, with some consumers charged £54 more than others in a different region.

"Tactical regional pricing is a tax on loyalty," explained Ann Robinson, director of consumer policy at uSwitch.com.

"Electricity suppliers are treating local longstanding customers like cash cows, using them to subsidise the more competitive prices they are offering to new customers in other regions," she added.

Meanwhile, npower's new online tariff, Sign Online 8, has been praised as "highly competitive" by price comparison service SimplySwitch.