After the freeze: cut your bills - cheapest energy by region

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Whether it’s the bitterly cold winter we’re having, or the ongoing worries about global warming – it seems concerns about energy prices are rarely out of the news.

What’s clear is that our domestic energy bills are on the rise, but not in a smooth upward trend. In 2006 there were big rises in gas and electricity tariffs. 2007 saw an overall small decrease, while 2008 saw further massive hikes. Last year there were again some small cuts.

While we don't know if this trend will continue, what we do know is that over the longer term prices are rising fast and there’s no reason to suspect this won’t continue.

Already this year many customers are receiving letters form their current energy providers telling them of substantial price hikes.

So what can we do about it?

The good news is that there is far more competition in the energy sector than there used to be and that means shopping around can save us a fortune.

The bad news is that with so many providers all operating in different regions, finding the cheapest deal where you live hasn’t been straightforward. So with this problem in mind we’ve listed the best rates by region and provider to help you.

The savings shown are based on a comparison with a typical supplier - British Gas’ Dual Fuel prices based on a standard monthly direct debit on a single meter rate. We’ve taken the national average energy usage of 3300KWh for electricity and 20500KWh of gas as our benchmark.

It’s easy to save anything between 16% and 23% on your combined energy bills. Here we list the top three by provider, tariff, percentage saving and bills for electricity and gas (for a more personalised comparison, use our energy comparison tool):

Eastern:

 1^st  - Scottish Power Online Saver 8. Saving 21% £229/£888

2^nd – Npower Sign Online V.17. Saving 19% £215/£902

3^rd – EDF Energy/Online Saver V5. Saving 19% £213/£904

East Midlands:

1^st – First Utility/Smart Online Saver V3. Saving 23% £264/£861

2^nd – Scottish Power Online Saver 8. Saving 23% £260/£866

3^rd – Npower Sign Online V.17. Saving 21% £240/£866 

London:

1^st – Npower Sign Online V.17. Saving 23% £267/£887

2^nd – Npower WEB V.17. Saving 21% £242/£912

3^rd – Ovo Energy New Energy. Saving 20% £236/£918

Manweb:

1^st – Scottish Power Online Saver 8. Saving 19% £218/£906

2^nd – Npower Sign Online V.17. Saving 18% £197/£926

3^rd – British Gas Web Saver V.3. Saving 18% £197/£927 

Midlands:

1^st – Npower Sign Online V.17. Saving 22% £246/£894

2^nd – First Utility Smart Online Saver V3. Saving 21% £238/£902