This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/oct/12/british-gas-raises-electricity-tariffs

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
British Gas raises gas and electricity tariffs by 6% British Gas raises gas and electricity tariffs by 6%
(35 minutes later)
British Gas has confirmed it will raise gas and electricity tariffs by 6% from next month. It said the annual dual fuel bill for customers with average consumption would increase by about £80 to £1,238. British Gas has announced a price rise of 6% for gas and electricity customers that will add £80 to the typical household's annual bill.
A total of 8.5 million households will be hit by the move, although another 1 million British Gas customers on fixed-price contracts will be unaffected. The rises, which kick in on 16 November, will make British Gas the second most expensive supplier in the country after SSE, with customers on its most expensive tariff facing a typical annual bill of £1,336 a year. SSE has already announced price rises of 9%, which take effect on Monday.
The company's managing director, Phil Bentley, said rising costs were to blame. In July Centrica-owned British Gas announced that half-year profits at its residential arm had risen 23% to £345m. The move is a bitter blow for British Gas customers who in August 2011 suffered gas and electricity price rises of 18% and 16% respectively. This was followed by a drop of 5% in electricity tariffs in January.
The rival group SSE, which trades as Southern Electric, Swalec and Scottish Hydro, is due to increase tariffs by an average of 9% on Monday, affecting about 5 million electricity customers and 3.4 million gas customers. "Many British Gas customers will find the possibility of a price rise really frightening," said Citizens Advice chief executive Gillian Guy. "Bill increases throw already stretched budgets into turmoil, with people forced to find more ways to scrimp and save."
British Gas put gas and electricity tariffs up by 18% and 16% respectively in August 2011, blaming higher wholesale costs, but this was followed by a drop of 5% in electricity tariffs in January when prices eased. A total of 8.5 million households will be hit by the increase, although a further 1 million British Gas customers on fixed-price contracts will be unaffected.
Bentley said: "Britain's North Sea gas supplies are running out, and British Gas has to pay the going rate for gas in a competitive global marketplace. Furthermore, the investment needed to maintain and upgrade the national grid to deliver energy to our customers' homes, and the costs of the government's policies for a clean, energy-efficient Britain are all going up." British Gas blamed the price increase on rising wholesale prices as well as increasing costs related to social and environmental issues.
"We simply cannot ignore the rising costs that are largely outside our control, but which make up most of the bill," said British Gas managing director Phil Bentley.
"Britain's North Sea gas supplies are running out, and British Gas has to pay the going rate for gas in a competitive global marketplace. Furthermore, the investment needed to maintain and upgrade the national grid to deliver energy to our customers' homes, and the costs of the government's policies for a clean, energy efficient Britain, are all going up."
Ann Robinson, director of consumer policy at uSwitch.com, said: "This is a bitter blow for consumers and comes just ahead of winter when the impact on bills will be even more acute.
"With SSE's price hike coming into effect next Monday and now Britain's biggest supplier announcing a rise of its own, the writing is on the wall for consumers this winter – energy bills are going skywards."
It is widely anticipated that the remaining energy suppliers that make up the "big six" will soon follow suit with similar price rises. E.ON has a price freeze in place until the end of the year but has refused to rule out an increase after that; Scottish Power, EDF and npower are all expected to apply increases in the next two months.
Some householders could still save close to £300 by switching supplier and tariff, but many of the cheapest deals have recently been pulled from the market. Three of the cheapest five tariffs on the market now come from two of the country's smallest suppliers, First Utility and Ovo Energy.
• See if you can save money with the Guardian Money Deals switching service