Falling gas and electricity prices earlier in 2007 have made a difference to our pockets. Most suppliers (with the exception of EDF Energy, the main supplier to Londoners) lowered their gas and electricity prices to their customers in the first half of this year. Depending on where you live, and how you pay for your energy, you should have seen your energy cost come down between 5% and 20% compared to their peak in January 2007.

Since the last price cut announcement by a leading supplier, which now dates back to April, many months have passed, and nothing further has happened. To the contrary, many suppliers, including British Gas have hinted at the possibility of price increases in the coming winter. Why did the energy suppliers not cut deeper after all, gas and electricity consumers still pay out an extraordinary £1,200 per year, even at the current rates, and what does the future hold?

Part of the reason is clearly profit-related. Energy suppliers seek the maximum return for their shareholders, as any public company would. Falling wholesale prices for energy during the last winter have given suppliers an unparalleled opportunity to line their pockets, yet still have allowed them to appear generous in the public eye by reducing prices to some degree.

The other reason for the hesitation to cut deeper on behalf of the British energy consumer is that most sources of electricity (which includes gas) are natural commodities traded like stocks on a stock exchange. Energy suppliers try to minimise their risk by buying this commodity on a forward basis, which means that the gas and electricity you consume today might have been bought by your supplier as far back as last year. This will insure the supplier against shortages.

Suppliers therefore always keep an eye on the future cost of energy prices (particularly winter prices, when consumption is higher), and if these are high then they are far less likely to offer short term price cuts to their customers today and this is what has happened over the summer that is just past. It is widely believed that the wholesale price of winter gas needs to increase by only 10% from its current levels for suppliers to raise the raise the cost to consumers, just as the country will go into the winter of 2008. As gas is used for about 40% of the country's electricity generation, this effect of higher prices for gas will spill over into higher electricity prices as well.

First of all, your bills will not decrease automatically anymore. For the foreseeable future, savings will be had from switching supplier more on that below and from reducing consumption only. We urge consumers to do both now and take advantage of what are still benign market conditions for households looking to reduce their bills.

The market for consumers looking to switch suppliers and make savings has not looked this good in years. New independent energy suppliers have entered the market again (for example Utilita), and their efforts have contributed to the huge amount of choice British energy consumers have. Suppliers are not keen to pass savings to their existing customer base, but they know that to attract a new customer from a rival supplier, they must compete on price, and offer at least 10% savings.

A number of large and small suppliers have therefore recently launched attractive new offers to get new customers npower, for example, launched a new Sign Online tariff that offers consumers the benefits of online account management at a very cost-competitive price. Scottish and Southern Group, the company behind the Southern Electric, Swalec and Scottish Hydro brands have brought out a totally new stripped down Internet tariff which improves greatly on their standard offering, while ScottishPower and British Gas currently have offers that easily translate into savings of £160 or more for an average household.

But the same rule still applies: you have to look around for these deals and be prepared to switch energy supplier. Suppliers will not reduce your cost of gas and electricity without action from you, and our price comparison service, which compares over 7,000 tariffs, including all the lead green tariffs is just perfect for this.

So our advice is to lock in some savings with an attractive offer that reflects the low current cost of gas and electricity. And then make a point to check that you remain on the best deal by signing up to our integrated savings reminder service which will alert you to your best deal on a monthly basis by e-mail. Staying on the best deal is easy with our service.

Remember that the average annual utility bill now stands at £1200 per household, and that the signs are there for bills to yet again go up further! That amount is more likely than not more than what you spend on other household bills, including such big ticket items as car insurance or mobile phone charges and so your energy does deserve your attention.