EDF Energy, the U.K. arm of Electricite de France (1024251.FR), Friday said it would cut its standard retail electricity rate by an average of 8.8% for customers in certain parts of the U.K. starting from March 31.
The cuts are in response to falling wholesale natural gas prices, one of the key fuels used to power a large portion of the U.K.'s electricity stations.
Wholesale gas prices have fallen steadily in recent months, except for a short spike during the Russia-Ukraine gas dispute when Russian gas transported via Ukraine to Europe was temporarily cut off.
The company didn't mention any plans to cut standard retail natural gas prices but said the electricity price cuts will apply to customers in London, South East, South West, Wales and Scotland, the vast majority of its standard rate customers in the country. The cuts range from 5.5% to 12.5% depending on the region.
British Gas, the retail arm of the U.K.'s largest retail energy supplier Centrica PLC (CNA.LN), was the first to announce price cuts followed by Scottish and Southern Energy PLC (SSE.LN).
Centrica announced plans to cut its standard gas tariff by 10% starting on Feb 19 while Scottish and Southern Energy announced plans to cut electricity prices by 9% and gas by 4% from March 30.