Last week, Electrabel said it would reduce its prices by 10 to 15% for customers paying a fixed tariff on a 12-month contract. Luminus decided not to implement the 1 April price increase, claiming it wished to send a “strong signal” to its customers while maintaining the increase had been lawful. Essent also scrapped its planned increase.

According to the Flemish regulator for the gas and electricity industries, VREG, even the announced cut means that Electrabel is still 25% more expensive than its smaller competitors. The VREG website offers customers a worksheet to find the best price for their own situation. Electrabel’s decision is thought to have been motivated largely by the mass exodus of customers to other, less expensive providers– 144,000 households in Flanders since January 2011 for electricity, and 107,000 for gas.