Power firms like British Gas are under more pressure from the Government to pass on price cuts to households as wholesale energy prices tumble.
With oil prices now less than a third of the highs in the summer, Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband urged companies to pass on consequent cuts in gas bills "as soon as possible".
Millions of homeowners have been hit with two inflation-busting bill hikes this year as the cost of wholesale electricity and gas soared on the back of oil's rise.
Mr Miliband told an audience at London's Imperial College on Tuesday night: "We've recently seen big falls in wholesale gas and electricity prices, but I understand that because energy companies tend to buy in advance they won't be passed on immediately.
"But they must be passed on as soon as possible."
The minister also criticised the treatment of some customers forced to pay higher charges because they use pre-payment meters or can only be served by a single supplier, warning that the Government would take action to stamp out unfair charging.
Energy market regulator Ofgem said last month that consumers should expect to see energy prices starting to drop early in the New Year.
Ofgem chief executive Alistair Buchanan said the regulator was putting "as much pressure as we can" on suppliers to announce their plans.
Mr Miliband went on to signal that greater state intervention in the energy markets "for the public good" is under consideration.
He said the UK's greater dependence on imported fuels due to dwindling North Sea supplies posed "challenges on sustainability, security and affordability which markets on their own cannot be guaranteed to solve".
