Fury as British Gas hit us with 10% price rise
4 MILLION CUSTOMERS 900,000 CUSTOMERS
INCREASES British Gas
BRITISH Gas hit four million customers with an “eye-watering” price rise days before its owner was due to reveal profits of £44 a second.
The biggest energy supplier confirmed it would raise prices by the maximum allowed, 10.5% on average, from April 1.
British Gas owner Centrica will announce its annual results tomorrow, with analysts forecasting a 14% rise to just over £1.4billion last year.
TUC boss Frances O’Grady said: “Our energy market is broken. Despite making bumper profits, companies are hitting families with eye-watering bills.
“The Government needs to reform the industry to serve the nation better.”
Hours after the British Gas announcement, Scottish Power imposed a near identical increase.
Five of the Big Six suppliers have now announced plans to use an increase in a regulated price cap to hike bills as much as they can. SSE, the last of the Big Six, is expected to follow suit in days. British Gas blamed the “cost of energy and government policies” for charging customers on its typical standard variable tariff an extra £117 a year.
The firm’s prepayment meter prices will also jump by an average £106 a year.
British Gas’s energy supply arm accounted for £572million of the £1.25billion Centrica made in 2017.
Rebecca Long-Bailey, Labour Shadow Business Secretary, said: “Big energy companies – and British Gas are not alone – are making life miserable for