The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
More energy price hikes in the pipeline
Two more major energy suppliers have confirmed autumn price hikes for millions of households in line with Ofgem’s price cap increase.
The price of both E.On and ScottishPower’s standard tariffs will jump by around £139 a year, the maximum allowed by regulator Ofgem from October 1.
Earlier this month, Ofgem confirmed it was allowing suppliers to increase bills for around 15 million households by at least £139 to a record high due to a rise in wholesale prices. Ofgem said that energy customers on default tariffs paying by direct debit will see the sharpest jump in prices since the cap was introduced, taking average bills to £1,277.
Pre-payment customers will see costs rise by £153, from £1,156 to £1,309.
E.On’s average gas and electricity standard tariff for a customer paying by direct debit will rise by 12% from £1,138 to £1,277 a year.
The firm is also hiking its average bill for prepayment customers to £1,309 a year from October 1.
An E.On spokeswoman said: “Ofgem reviews its price cap twice a year, setting a fair price for energy and reflecting the current state of the market.
“Following Ofgem’s latest update, we are in the process of writing to customers to inform them we will be changing our standard variable tariff prices from Friday October 1.
“Ofgem’s latest update was driven by a more than doubling of global gas prices in the last six months and there’s almost nothing suppliers can do to change those market costs.
“Suppliers cannot sell products for less than they cost to buy, or the entire industry becomes lossmaking and the UK won’t have sustainable companies supplying its energy.
“In the last three years, more than 30 suppliers have left this market, many because they set unsustainably low tariffs and could not respond to market changes.”
A ScottishPower spokeswoman said: “We will be moving the costs of our standard variable tariffs in line with Ofgem’s changes to the energy price cap later this year.”
“We’re in the process of contacting our customers affected by this change and, as always, will continue to do all we can to support them, ensure they are on the best tariff for their energy use, and provide direct help to those who need it most.”
Last week EDF Energy became the first Big Six supplier to announce it was increasing the price of its average standard variable tariff for direct debit customers by 12% to £1,277.
Philippe Commaret, managing director of customers at EDF, said: “As Ofgem has explained, it is global gas prices that have caused the unprecedented increase in wholesale energy costs and as a sustainable, long-term business we must reflect the costs we face.”