Thursday 17 October 2013

British Gas bumps up gas and electricity prices

Centrica’s energy supply firm British Gas will bump up domestic prices by 8.4% for gas and 10.4% for electricity next month.

It is the second Big Six supplier in a week to put up its tariffs. SSE was the first starter in this round of winter price hikes with a rise of 8.2%. From 23 November British Gas prices will go up an average of 9.2%, rising by £107 from £1,190 to £1,297.

A total of 7.8 million households in Britain will be affected by today’s announcement however another 1.7 million British Gas consumers already benefiting from fixed price contracts are unaffected.

British Gas blamed the rises on the global price of energy, charges it has to pay for using the national grid and the cost of the Government’s social and environmental programmes.

Ian Peters, Managing Director of British Gas Residential said the firm “hasn't taken this decision lightly”.

He said: “I know these are difficult times for many customers and totally understand the frustration that so many household costs keep on rising when incomes aren’t keeping pace… but what’s pushing up energy prices at the moment are costs that are not all directly under our control”.

He offered customers a new tariff, Fix & Fall November 2014, fixing prices until 30 November 2014 and if the standard prices fall, Fix & Fall prices will fall too. They also have a new Fixed Price March 2016 tariff, holding prices over three winters.