Big energy suppliers to hike prices £96 a year in line with price cap rise

Millions of households will see energy bills rise £96 a year following the price cap announcement and the subsequent increases by the big firms. 

This is Money revealed British Gas was the first supplier to increase bills for default tariff customers by £97 – from £1,041 to £1,138 a year – affecting 2.3million customers.

Now other big companies Eon, Npower, EDF and Scottish Power have all followed suit.

They all confirmed they are raising their prices by £96 a year, up from £1,042 to £1,138 – an increase of 9 per cent. 

Hike: Households on default tariffs are likely to see their bills increase by 9% as of April 1

This is Money has asked SSE to advise whether it will be hiking its prices by the same amount, the only major firm not to confirm the increase.

The news follows Ofgem’s decision to raise the energy price cap by £96 to £1,138 for the six month period from 1 April.

The cap on prepayment tariffs will also increase by £87 a year from £1,069 to £1,156. 

The energy price cap was launched in January 2019 by watchdog, Ofgem, as a way of keeping down the cost for households across the UK.

The new hike will come in on 1 April for six months with the changes blamed on a rise in wholesale energy prices.

The price increase is an unpopular decision as many households are living through a time of financial difficulty, due to the ongoing pandemic.

However, providers said have little choice in making the changes.  

The price cap increase was an unpopular decision as many currently face financial uncertainty

An EDF spokesperson said: ‘In the face of sharp increases in the costs to supply energy, we have already seen two suppliers collapse this year and as a sustainable, long-term business it is critical that we reflect the costs we face. 

‘Customers on tariffs that are due to change in April will be written to, reminding them that they are free to switch tariff at any time and that they should check that they are on the best tariff for them.’

Sarah Broomfield, energy expert at Uswitch, added: ‘British Gas was the first of the Big Six to react to Ofgem’s increase in the energy price cap, and now more suppliers have followed suit.

‘Default tariff customers at EDF, Eon, Scottish Power and Npower will see bills increase by an average of £96 from 1 April.

‘Other energy companies are likely to announce similar price rises in the coming days and weeks, so now is a good time to act to keep your bills down.

‘There are plenty of fixed deals available now that can protect you right now from market volatility.

‘The best value fixed deal currently available on the market is £945 from Avro Energy, while the new price cap will sit at £1,138 for typical usage. This means that by switching, households could save themselves £193 across their annual energy bills.’

Households who think they could be paying too much on their energy bills are encouraged to use price comparison sites to see if they could save money by switching tariff or provider.  

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk