The New year was rumoured th bring price hikes for energy bills. NPower kicked start the domino effect by announcing that electricity prices for its domestic customers will rise by 12.7%, while gas bills will see a 17.2% increase.
The average family buying both gas and electricity from the company will find the annual bill soaring above £1,000.
Npower, the UK’s fourth-largest energy provider, said it had been “forced to put up prices” because of soaring wholesale energy costs.
Energy watchdogs demanded an investigation by the European Commission and the Competition Commission in this country to ensure there is no illegal price fixing.
Adam Scorer, campaigns chief at the consumer body Energywatch, hit out as the profiteering of the foreign energy giants.
“The big European energy companies treat Great Britain like Treasure Island,’ he said.
“They raid the UK’s North Sea for gas supplies when it is cheap but then levy punitive prices when demand is higher.
“This move suggests something is very badly wrong, not only in the GB energy market but in Europe as well. There is no actual shortage of gas across Europe, we have new pipelines to bring that gas to the UK, greater storage capacity and terminals to bring in supertankers full of liquefied natural gas.”
A drop in wholesale energy prices in 2006 and early 2007 had enabled suppliers to cut bills, with British Gas becoming the first major UK energy firm to announce decreases.
Npower dropped its prices at the end of April 2007 and, before today’s expected price increases, has been the fourth cheapest of the six biggest UK energy suppliers, according to price comparison site uSwitch.com.
But its average standard dual fuel bill now stands at £1,047 a year, up from £908, making it the most expensive provider, said uSwitch.com.
The site hit out at energy suppliers for being quick to pass on rises in wholesale energy prices, but slow to pass on cuts to customers.
Giuseppe Di Vita, managing director of Npower’s residential business, said that rival energy providers will follow suit with their own price rises “very shortly”.
….see following Blog on EDF Energy price hikes.
