Energy Customers Can't Afford European Union Exit

Falling wholesale oil prices and the promise of lower living costs from George Osborne during the 2015 budget may have buoyed energy customers, at least for a while.

However, evidence suggests that consumers have been lulled into a false sense of security.

The energy sector has come under almost relentless scrutiny over the last few years, with pricing and customer service just two of a number of factors coming to the chagrin of domestic and business customers alike.

There have been supposed recent causes for optimism of late, in the form of falling wholesale prices and the forthcoming election but it could be some time before any of this results in lower bills.

The various political parties are of course all wading into the issue in a bid to make the “improvement of the energy sector” a core part of their manifesto, but energy customers should beware the spiel.

Love Energy Savings reported some two months ago that the recent fall in wholesale oil prices had not necessarily equated to lower energy bills and although some suppliers have passed these savings on, the market has hardly been brimming with joyous customers celebrating their savings.

Add to this the fact that the drop in oil prices has actually taken the attention away from increases elsewhere, and you have a rather murky outlook for energy customers.

In the City, Centrica has recently warned that the result of the UK General Election could have a greater than expected impact on the fate of the nation’s utilities providers with Centrica shares potentially being worth 20% less under a Labour government than a Conservative one.

The impact this could have on the energy sector goes beyond the utilities companies themselves.

Reduced confidence impacts the amount of investment in machinery and also in employment into the sector.

While most businesses are welcoming lower oil prices, due to the reduction in transport bills, it is the superficiality of these benefits which worries City analysts.

All the parties have their plans for energy, ranging from price freezes to taking powers away from Brussels; but it remains to be seen how implementable these turn out to be.

The Conservative promise of a referendum on EU membership seems to be a key factor when looking at the future of utility providers and big business in general.

A Conservative victory has usually boded well for the City, but fears that a referendum could result in an EU exit has made business wary of the potential this could have for closing markets and reducing London's financial authority.

With crude oil largely being recognised as the most politically charged commodity in the world, a united stance and EU support may be more necessary than the UK realises.

One thing that does seem to be clear is that any potential energy savings are either superficial or currently being used as a political tennis ball.

Long-term savings are therefore still long way off for the majority of the UK’s energy customers.

The advice from North-West based energy comparison experts, Love Energy Savings, is for businesses to tackle their usage and energy efficiency efforts first and then look to switch their tariff or even supplier to ensure they are getting the best deal and shielding themselves from potential market upheaval.

Taking the initiative and lowering costs sooner rather than later is the only sure fire way for SME’s or even domestic energy customers to take matters into their own hands and save the maximum amount of money as soon as possible before the choice is taken away from them and given to the ruling political party.