Scottishpower to cut gas prices

LONDON (Reuters) - ScottishPower is to cut its standard household gas prices by an average of 8 percent from March 31, a company spokesman said on Thursday.

The UK arm of Spanish utility Iberdrola is the last of Britain's big six energy suppliers to cut its gas prices in 2010, in response to a big drop in wholesale gas prices in 2009.

"We understand that household budgets are tighter as a result of the economic recession and recognise our customers are concerned about the effect of the recent cold weather on their heating bills," Raymond Jack, energy retail director at ScottishPower said.

"We must remember though, that despite reductions in wholesale prices, the gas we are using today was bought well in advance when prices were much higher. It is important that we do this to ensure we have sufficient supplies when customers require them and to protect customers from volatile spot market prices."

Domestic wholesale gas prices have fallen since the start of the financial crisis, piling pressure on energy suppliers to pass on savings to consumers. (Reporting by Daniel Fineren; editing by James Jukwey)