Retail market indicators

There were 22 active suppliers in the domestic gas and electricity retail markets as of December 2024. This consisted of 18 suppliers active in both gas and electricity, 1 in gas and 3 in electricity, after the entry of one electricity supplier during the last quarter of 2024.

In 2024, during the first three quarters, the number of suppliers remained same at 21 due to no new entries and exits. During Q4 of 2024, Voltx Power LTD entered the electricity market as an active supplier and therefore the total number of suppliers at the end of 2024 was 22. 

In March 2025, gas and power wholesale prices have generally decreased throughout the month driven by milder temperatures and increased renewable output. Whereas during the week commencing on 10 March, prices increased because of colder weather and reduced renewable generation increasing gas-fired power generation. 

For more detailed updates on wholesale prices visit Wholesale market indicators.

In March 2025, the number of new fixed tariffs on offer decreased compared to February 2025. Around 85% of these offers were available to the whole market, rather than exclusive to specific customers, with prices generally higher than the price cap for 1 January to 31 March 2025. The average fixed tariff was priced at £1,684 in March 2025, £68 lower than in the previous month.

In March 2025, the average price of SVTs with large legacy suppliers for a typical dual fuel customer paying with direct debit remained constant at £1,738 which is aligned with the price cap for the period 1 January to 31 March 2025. The market cheapest tariff increased from £1,599 in February 2025 to £1,605 in March 2025, and the cheapest tariff basket slightly decreased from £1,645 in February 2025 to £1,635 in March 2025. See the methodology for information on how the cheapest tariff basket is calculated.

The update of all profit and average bill indicators based on Consolidated Segmental Statements (CSS) has been paused. Only three large domestic legacy suppliers (British Gas, EDF and Scottish Power) and one non-domestic supplier (SSE) had submitted a CSS under existing regulation. This information is insufficient to generate market representative statistics. A review of the CSS obligation is now completed and will expand CSS reporting to most of the domestic and non-domestic market. This will apply to supplier financial accounts for 2023 onwards with publication 10 months after the company’s financial year end. We intend to resume the publication of these indicators as soon as new data becomes available. Read Reviewing the Consolidated Segmental Statements – our decision for more information.

The Market Stabilisation Charge was a temporary measure in place from 14 April 2022 to 31 March 2024 which required all domestic suppliers acquiring a domestic customer to pay a charge to the losing supplier when wholesale prices fell considerably below the relevant wholesale price cap index. For more information about the MSC read -  Market Stabilisation Charge dashboard. 

At the start of 2025, there appeared to be a recovery of the switching rate for both fuel classes. As noted, there was a large dip in Q4 of 2024. This appears to be like the pattern observed between 2023-24 where a dip post Q3 was observed but a recovery was made in around Jan 2024.  

In January 2025, the total number of switches saw a circa 7% increase in switching from the previous month. The number of switches increased in both fuels; the number of electricity switches went to 218,240 in January 2025 from 202,855 in December 2024. Gas switches went to 165,583 in January 2025 from 155,902 in December 2024.  

The proportion of net gains switching away from the large legacy supplier was around 25% in January 2025, continuing to reflect mainly customers moving towards other large and medium suppliers.

Suppliers’ Customer Credit Balances (CCBs) are an important aspect of the retail energy market, and this is reflected in licence obligations in relation to both consumer standards and supplier financial resilience.

The data below reflects Ofgem's chosen policy measure. This is for Fixed Direct Debit domestic customers.  This focuses the analysis on how households are impacted by CCBs. We have ‘netted off unbilled consumption’ meaning that energy you have paid for but not used does not feature. Finally, as Customer credit balances are seasonal (they rise in summer months and are then spent in colder winter months) we have included the yearly average to disaggregate the seasonal variation from its underlying trend.

These figures reflect households that are in credit, the values are true as of the last day of each calendar quarter (31^st March, 30^th June, 30^th September 31^st December).

Finally, the use of quartiles may be impacted as usage changes in the future, which would need to be reviewed and recognised.

This data is published by the end of March, June, September and December each year.  For further information see customer credit balances explanatory note.

We have selected this range of indicators to support general understanding of the market, including how they contribute to the key priorities outlined in our strategic narrative. We also aim to provide a picture of the market where it is not produced elsewhere, or where there is scope for us to set a clear methodology for the data.

Our data comes from sources that are either publicly available, provided by third parties or from responses to Ofgem information requests. Specific sources and relevant dates are listed with each indicator. We are grateful to third parties for allowing us to reproduce their data. 

Most of these indicators will be updated quarterly while still allowing access to historic information. Updates will depend on the availability of data for an indicator. 

We will review the indicators periodically to ensure they continue to help promote transparency and understanding of the retail energy market and as additional sources of information become available.