Dec. 24--BAH, HUMBUG! TO 'BIG SIX' PRICES: ROCK bottom oil prices have slashed wholesale gas and electricity costs but energy suppliers have so far steadfastly refused to pass on the cuts to customers.

They were quick to put up bills by double-digit percentages twice during the year when oil gushed towards a record $147 a barrel, but they are still playing scrooge despite oil dropping below $40 a barrel. It means many hard-up households will shivering over Christmas.

Industry regulator Ofgem didn't do pensioners any favours either when it said that price cuts will not be expected from the "big six" energy suppliers until, in some cases, April or May. Petrol prices were slashed at the pumps within days or weeks when the oil price slipped, so why should it take so long for gas and electricity prices to fall?

Scottish & Southern Energy, 26p higher at 1167p, recently turned up the pressure on its rivals when chief executive Ian Marchant said it was considering price cuts early in the New Year. The boss of the second largest supplier of electricity and gas in the UK under the Southern Electric, Scottish Hydro Electric, SWALEC and Atlantic brands, added that his top priority in 2009 would be to reduce prices "as quickly as possible."

S&SE yesterday revealed it now has a record 9m customers, 5.53m electricity and

3.47m gas. It has added 500,000 customers since the start of the financial year in April, and numbers have doubled in the seven years since the end of 2001. When the group was formed ten years ago by the merger of Scottish Hydro-Electric and Southern Electric, it had 3.2m customers.

Dealers in half-empty offices felt a warm glow as the Footsie advanced 57 points in thin trading before boiling over to close 6.82 points up at 4,255.98. A bit of window dressing here and there ahead of the festive break helped take their minds off further depressing news about the UK economy. It shrank in the third quarter for the first time since 1992 and at a faster rate than previously thought, increasing concerns of a deep recession.

If it's any consolation for UK investors, America's economy is also in a dire state. Data showed it slowed sharply in the third quarter, declining at a 0.5pc annual rate, the weakest quarterly growth rate since the first quarter of 2001. Economists believe America has been in recession for a year already. Wall Street shrugged it off with an early gain of 84 points before reacting to trade 69 lower.

Insurance giant and investor Prudential gained 18 3/4p to 390p on hopes for a early new year rally.