Scottish and Southern

SSE, Scottish Power and energy generator GDF SUEZ/IPM are to pay penalties totalling £4.6 million to charity following their failure to deliver energy efficiency measures on time.

SSE has cut switching times to 17 days from today, while First Utility has confirmed it will introduce faster energy switching from 10 November ahead of the New Year's Eve deadline given by Ofgem.

Ofgem has written to the big energy suppliers demanding they take action on the poor handling of complaints after the regulator found the average customer had to contact their supplier six times before an issue was resolved.

Ovo Energy has topped our poll for customer service for the second time running with more than 80% of its users rating its service as "great". At the other end of the scale, Npower remains last for the third poll running.

Energy prices are unlikely to rise before the end of the year but there is a threat of increases over the next few years, according to predictions from industry experts.

If you're affected by a lengthy power cut after next April, you'll get more compensation under a crackdown on the way energy companies deal with electricity failures.

16,000 SSE customers on the Economy 10 electricity tariff could be in line for refunds because their meters were faulty.

British Gas customers could escape energy price hikes this year, as the firm says it doesn't expect to change prices during 2014.

The big six energy companies could face a full-scale investigation into whether they are preventing competition in the market and making excess profits, reglator Ofgem has announced.

Big six energy supplier Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) is to freeze household gas and electricity prices until at least January 2016.