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Almost one million Scottish Power customers will see their gas and electricity bills rise by an average of 3.7% or £46 a year, after the firm announced its second price hike of the year.

Energy regulator Ofgem is to trial a collective deal for 50,000 customers who haven't switched for more than three years - but you needn't wait to save.

Npower is running a trial that could see an end to its standard variable tariff – for the first time it's moving some customers onto another fixed deal at the end of their current contract. But most could still save by switching.

The big six energy companies – EDF, Eon, British Gas, Scottish and Southern Energy, Scottish Power and Npower – have agreed to write to customers every year to tell them the firm's best tariffs for them and how to get it, the Government will announce today.