ENERGY firms will be forced to tell customers if they are paying over the odds, Chris Huhne will pledge today.

The Energy Secretary says he will tackle the Big Six – Centrica, E.ON, EDF, nPower, Scottish Power, and Scottish and Southern – which hiked prices this year by up to 20%.

Mr Huhne, right, will say during his speech today: "We want simpler tariffs, requiring firms to say whether you could buy more cheaply on another tariff."

He also wants to cut the time it takes to switch firms from six weeks to three.