Customers at energy firms including British Gas, E.ON, EDF and Octopus Energy have been told they can avoid a £188 price rise on their energy bills - but need to act fast.

That’s because Ofgem has slashed the price cap for customers on variable tariffs, but the change is only going to take effect for three months from July before another massive hike in bills comes into effect this October.

Prices will drop by an average of £122 from July 1, but another average rise of £188 October (12 percent on top of the July £1,568 price cap) is predicted to wipe out those savings.

It means that the best course of action, for the first time in years, may be to lock in a cheaper energy fix, which could see you save £152 on the next energy price cap change.

It means that you’d pay £1,427 for average usage for a year if you fixed now, whereas prices are set to go to £1,756 in October on current predictions, a saving of a whopping £329 against the price cap.

The cheapest fix right now gives you 9 percent off, locking in that £329 saving, with Ecotricity.

Octopus also offers a 7 percent lower than price cap fix, while Ovo Energy is offering 5 percent lower than the price cap.

All of these will save money given that the price cap is forecast to rise by 12 percent in October.

The other tariff to consider is E.ON’s Next Pledge tracker, which guarantees to sit at 3 percent under the price cap for a year, so although it offers less saving up front, it is protected in the event the price cap falls further than expected (although it’s not expected to).