Big six energy firms face competition probe

Bark01

davidgmmafan wrote: »

If BG or Centrica wanted to they could probably put all of the other suppliers out of business but this would be abusing their position in the market and is not allowed.

However the one simple idea which WOULD improve competition is to have petrol forecourt style pricing. People understand this, which is why the companies do not want this...

This 1000 times, take BG out of the market and everything all of a sudden looks a lot more competitive. Who would of thought an uncompetitive market would be created by allowing one player to start with a 50% market share?

EDF & Which called for a single unit rate about a year ago in response to Ofgems TCR (tariff comparison rate) as the TCR is a joke of a figure.

scaredofdebt

davidgmmafan wrote: »

However the one simple idea which WOULD improve competition is to have petrol forecourt style pricing. People understand this, which is why the companies do not want this...

Petrol prices vary by around 10%, which is less than the variation in gas/electricity prices currently.

Simplification is a good thing but it won't make competition any more effective at reducing prices for the average consumer.

There are steps being taken currently to make it easier to work out which tariff is cheapest but it's still more complicated than it needs to be:

http://www.uswitch.com/gas-electricity/guides/tariff-comparison-rate/