MORE than a million households have swapped from each of the historic energy operators (EDF for electricity and GDF-Suez for gas) since deregulation in 2007, according to the Institut National de la Consommation.

The historic operators offer a tarif réglementé that can only change on the government’s say so - you will have this if you joined before deregulation.

New offers - tarifs de marché - have prices fixed in the contract, some more, some less than the regulated ones. If you leave the regulated gas tarif you cannot go back, but for electricity you can go back after six months (until July 1, 2010).

Some new offers have a low price for a year but no guarantee it will stay low - check the contract. The institut says regulated tarifs remain a safe bet for people who do not want to risk steep medium-term increases.

For quick savings they recommend Directe Energie for electricity and Altergaz for gas.

Some “green” electricity offers use electricity from renewable sources (at a surcharge). Enercoop is said to be the best bet for this.

Watch out for little differences - Poweo does not accept cheque payment while Direct Energie and Planète Oui charge €3 per cheque.