EDF handing energy customers free £130 to help with January price cap rise

EDF has launched the cheapest, energy-only 12-month fixed tariff among major suppliers, £130 lower than January’s price cap. EDF’s price cap forecasting service predicted earlier this week that today’s announcement from Ofgem would see the cap go up by £19 from 1 January 2025.

The cap had dropped to £1,568 earlier this year, however it rose by 10% on October 1 and that trend looks set to continue. Typically, prices do increase at this time of year when demand is higher. However, there has been more wholesale market volatility in recent weeks due to the recent cold weather as well as concerns over gas supplies from Russia.

Instability caused by conflicts in the Middle East and between Russia and Ukraine, as well as the uncertainty the American election brings to global gas prices are also factors in the predicted uptick. Longer term, the price cap is predicted to rise again in April, before going down in July, however there is less certainty around these price cap periods as wholesale prices may change.

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To help customers now, EDF has introduced Simply Fixed Direct 1yr Jan26 which costs £1,608 for a typical average energy user paying by direct debit and a smart meter is not required to sign up. EDF has regularly offered the cheapest fixed rate deals amongst major suppliers this year and recently launched its Sunday Saver offer giving customers who sign up and reduce peak energy use up to 16 hours of free electricity a week.

Customers who sign up for December’s challenge will get eight hours of free electricity on Christmas Day. There are no exit fees for Simply Fixed Direct 1Yr Nov25 V5 if the customer signs up directly through EDF, however the deal could be removed at any time due to volatility in global wholesale prices.

Rich Hughes, Director of Retail at EDF, said: “With cold weather setting in and the price cap set to increase again, we know people are more concerned about the cost of their energy bill. Just like we have all year, we will keep our prices as low as possible, so we can help and offer again the cheapest priced energy only fixed deal of the major suppliers.”