Ann Robinson: Ofgem plans welcome in a market where just one in ten pay the cheapest tarriff

The facts speak for themselves: about four in ten households have never switched suppliers and three-quarters of people are sitting on expensive standard tariffs.

Tellingly, just one in ten households are paying the cheapest prices on the market.

This is clear evidence that consumers are not engaged in the market and Ofgem's earlier remedies have done little to change this.

In fact, consumers have told us that annual statements, a linchpin of Ofgem's earlier push to make the competitive market work, are not fit for purpose. So, yesterday's announcement is good news. Ofgem has made it clear that it will now tackle the barriers to switching and will also be looking at issues such as tariff complexity, poor supplier behaviour and lack of transparency.

This cannot come soon enough as consumers are missing out on savings of up to 458 that can be made simply by switching to a more competitive plan.

Ofgem has also singled out ScottishPower for investigation.This is because ScottishPower's standard plan for cash and cheque customers has consistently been the most expensive in the market, clearly raising a big question mark.

But what consumers need to understand is that standard plans paying by cash or cheque are one of the most expensive ways of getting your energy.

Paying by direct debit and moving to an online plan will see your energy prices reduced substantially.

• Ann Robinson, director of consumer policy at uSwitch.com