article_snippet: Three in four households are paying up to £250 a year more on gas and electricity than four households have to, official figures reveal.
article_snippet: Most families are still on Most families energy firm's standard variable tariff – two years after David Cameron promised to force suppliers to put all customers on best deal.
article_snippet: Three in four households are paying up to £250 a year more on gas and electricity than they have to, because they are on a standard variable tariff rather than the cheapest deal .
article_snippet: Shadow energy secretary Caroline Flint said: 'More than two years after David Cameron promised to make energy companies put all customers on the lowest tariff, millions of households are still being routinely overcharged by hundreds of pounds every single year. '
article_snippet: That's why the next Labour government will freeze energy prices until 2017, so that bills can fall but not rise, give the regulator the power to force energy suppliers to cut bills can fall but not rise prices and end overcharging once and for all.'
article_snippet: the Competition and Markets Authority findings showed 95% of the UK's 19 million dual fuel customers - those who take gas and electricity from the same company - could have saved between £158 and £234 by switching tariff or supplier.
article_snippet: Energy UK chief executive Lawrence Slade said: 'Standard variable tariffs are just that, the standard price a company is offering energy to customers.
article_snippet: Part of the cost of energy is an assurance that the gas and electricity has been bought months in advance, making sure energy will be available to customers when sure energy is needed. '
article_snippet: If you're not sure where to start, then I'd strongly recommend the Be An Energy Shopper website for an independent and impartial guide.'
article_snippet: A Decc spokeswoman said: 'Our reforms to drive down household bills are working and the best energy tariffs are cheaper than Our reforms to drive down household bills were a year ago.
article_snippet: But people want to see more savings - now - and the power is in people hands to do something about it.
article_snippet: By shopping around for a better deal and switching energy suppliers households can save around £200 and some even more. '
article_snippet: Despite wholesale energy prices falling sharply, household energy bills are not dropping at the same rate – nor at the same level across providers.
article_snippet: Anyone on a standard tariff with a Big Six provider – British Gas, E.On, npower, SSE, EDF Energy and ScottishPower – who has not switched for several years can almost certainly save money by jumping ship.
highlights_snippet: Families paying up to £250 a year more on energy than they have to .
  
highlights_snippet: Three in four families are still on they energy firm's standard variable tariff .
  