Fixed energy tariffs and would you recommend your energy provider?

[belledejour]

I am a subscriber to the MSE weekly newsletter which is currently full of doom & gloom about energy price hikes and recommending long term fixes.

At the moment I spend just over £2000 a year on gas and elec and I am going round in circles trying to work out whether to switch or not. If I go for a short fix until March 2015 (next 2 winters), the comparison websites say I will save about £200 a year. If I fix right up till March 2017 (i.e. 4 winters) I will have to pay more, not less, each year - at least another £25 a year i.e. £100 in total. What I can't work out is whether the fixed price is worth the extra cost. All suggestions/opinions welcome!

Also I am with Sainsburys Energy and they have been pretty good. I am nervous about switching to nPower or Scottish Energy when the internet is swarming with horror stories from consumers complaining bitterly about how rubbish they are. But then does anyone bother to go online and wax lyrical if their energy provider is just doing the job reasonably competently? I would be interested to see if anyone here would actually recommend their energy provider...or otherwise!

If you're ok with nuclear energy (which I have no issue with!) then edf's Blue Price Promise is excellent. Fixed for one year with no tie in, and if a deal comes out that is cheaper with another company, they email and let you know! I've done 1yr with them and they were very good at letting me know tariff was over and getting in touch with their new deals which I have taken. Bill was about £56 for gas & elec in summer, rising to £88 after winter, but we are massive wimps and generous with our heating! Hope that's helpful

You say your with sainburys but they aren't actually a supplier. Do you know who is?

For example m&s energy is provided by SSE. So your customer service etc comes from them.

Personally I'm staying on a shirt term fixed rate. I'll see what's available when my current deal ends next year.

Yes, Sainsburys is supplied by British Gas. I was with BG before switching to cheaper tariff with Sainsburys and they were good then too. So actually it's British Gas who have been pretty good.
Nessalina, thanks so much for feedback on EDF – very useful as they are one of the companies I am considering switching to.

I'm looking at a hike of between 10 and 25% whatever I do - my current Scottish Power deal is ending and I'm a low user of electricity only.

npower look to be the least worst but I do need a company that can actually get it vaguely right and the reviews say their IT is so bad that they can't even do that. Anyone got any good experiences?

would quite like to lose Scottish Power due to all their wind farms, and would prefer a company that uses nuclear.