The reduction in the Ofgem price cap that will apply from April may be the final step on the long, ruinously expensive road to a new normal for consumer energy prices. The guide price for typical annual dual-tariff use of £1,690 - a fall of 12.3% from the previous cap - is a dramatic reduction from the peak of more than £4,000 that applied just a year ago and prompted multi-billion pound state support for every household in the country.
In practice, it's been a universally applied maximum charge, with the taxpayer picking up the balance of every pound over £2,500. Lower wholesale prices, helped by the caprice of a mild winter, mean suppliers may have to work a little harder for your custom. British Gas is already offering a fixed price guaranteed at £1 below the April price cap, while E.On is offering a 3% discount on the cap for a year. Not much compared to the wild that existed before the war, but it is a start.