Npower and British Gas hike energy prices
Energy companies npower and British Gas today announced price hikes for its customers, adding £112 and £80 a month respectively to the average customer’s annual dual fuel bill.
British Gas this morning confirmed it is to hike gas and electricity prices by an average of six per cent from 16 November, equating to £1.50 a week, blaming the rise of wholesale prices.
Npower said this afternoon that it will raise prices by 8.8 per cent for gas and 9.1 per cent for electricity on 26 November, hiking the average household bill for dual fuel customers from £1,244 to £1,356 a year.
British Gas and npower’s increases follow in the footsteps of SSE, which warned in the summer its energy prices would rise.
British Gas managing director Phil Bentley admitted this morning he knew that household budgets were “under pressure”, but that he “simply cannot ignore the rising costs that are largely out of our control”.
Since 2004, the average annual household energy bill has risen from £522 in 2004 to £1,310 by the end of this year, roughly a 151 per cent increase, according to uSwitch.
Ann Robinson, director of Consumer Policy at uSwitch, said of the price hike: “With SSE’s hike coming into effect on Monday and both British Gas and npower announcing today, consumers are heading into a winter of discontent.
“The average household energy bill has never been so high and consumers will be demanding to know why.”