British Gas Follows ScottishPower & Increases Gas & Electricity Prices
As Utility Exchange has been warning for some time another of the “big six” energy companies, British Gas, has followed ScottishPower’s lead and raised its energy prices and the rest are expected to follow suit.
British Gas has raised its gas prices by 18% and electricity prices by 16% with the result that the average dual fuel bill is now around £1,288 a year and the average fuel bill is over £100 a month.
British Gas has been warning for some time that energy bills would have to go up because the price of wholesale energy was so high. Utility Exchange reported recently that British Gas said that wholesale energy prices were around 30% higher and that gas and electricity bills would have to increase to allow for this.
However, Consumer Focus, the energy watchdog, said that wholesale energy prices were around 30% lower than their high in 2008 but despite this British Gas had increased gas prices by 44% and electricity prices by 21% since then.
The chief executive of Consumer Focus, Mike O’Connor, said “This price rise will send a shock wave across the country. The impact on customers will be severe, piling more pressure on severely stretched household budgets and pushing hundreds of thousands more households into fuel poverty”.
Despite the domestic price increases British Gas Business announced slightly lower business gas prices last week so if your business gas contract is due for renewal it may be an idea to compare and switch to a cheaper deal before business prices start to increase again.
Centrica, which owns British Gas, blamed global wholesale prices for the energy price rises. The managing director of Centrica, Phil Bentley, said “We know there is never a good time to raise prices, but we are buying in a global energy market and have to pay the market rate. Rising wholesale cost is an issue facing all energy suppliers”.
Meanwhile Ofgem is carrying out an investigation into energy pricing practices as complaints increase that the big energy companies increase prices at the same rates meaning customers don’t have any alternative but to choose one of the “big six” energy providers.