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Martin Lewis has explained the “only” energy tariffs he’d consider ahead of an April price cap change. The ITV The Martin Lewis Money Show star and BBC Sounds podcast host spoke out on his latest podcast episode ahead of the new price cap.
Speaking out to energy customers across the country, Mr Lewis said: “We are in an interesting position at the moment, as the wholesale rates of energy that firms pay are increasing, but the rate at which we pay is not decreasing as quickly.
“The vast majority of people in the country’s pay is dictated by the energy price cap which is set by Ofgem which says that the maximum standing charge (if you are on the standard tariff), then firms can go lower in price, but they don’t, so effectively Ofgem sets the price.
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“It does this based on wholesale rates with a lag, so the April price is based on wholesale rates from November to mid-February.” Mr Lewis continued: “We know the April price has come down an average of 12 per cent, but here’s the difficulty. You have two choices of tariff.
“You can stay on the variable tariff that is either price capped or linked to the price cap, or E.ON Next Pledge. The E.ON next pledge tariff is basically a three per cent discount off the price cap. If you are on the price cap, provided you pay by direct debit and are happy to get a smart meter then you may as well be on the E.ON Next Pledge because it’s three per cent cheaper than the price cap.”
Mr Lewis added: “The only other tariffs I would think of are from Octopus, the tracker tariff and the agile tariff.” Mr Lewis said: “They have for the last few months been substantially cheaper than the price cap, but there is no guarantee that they would continue to do so.”
