British Gas hikes prices by 9.2pc
17/10/2013
Prime Minister, David Cameron, has urged consumers to switch energy supplier, after British Gas announced a price hike of 9.2pc in a move the PM has described as “disappointing”.
It is thought the move will add an extra £120 per year onto the average bill, making it the most expensive energy tariff ever seen in the UK, and that around 8.4million people will be affected.
This all comes after Centrica, the company that owns British Gas, promised in May that it would hold prices for as long as possible after a particularly cold winter meant that gas usage surged and the company recorded record profits.
Two months later the Centrica posted record profits again, this time for the first six months of the year. This led Centrica’s chief financial officer, Nick Luff, to say: “What I can do is assure you we will keep our prices as low as we can. It is in our interest to have competitive prices – we want to attract new customers – and if prices do have to go up we will delay it for as long as possible”.
Centrica has blamed the increase on the costs involved in buying wholesale gas and delivering it to the homes of its customers. However, such a big rise will be hard to swallow, as it is far over and above the rate of inflation, and the rate of salary increase in the UK.
Tom Lyon, energy expert at uSwitch.com, said: “Today’s price hike will be seen by many as a broken promise after the supplier suggested in May that it would use the extra profits it made last winter to hold off from any price hikes.
“British Gas customers have had the rug pulled from under their feet, and I suspect many will be feeling let down and betrayed”, he continued.
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