Bulb to raise electricity and gas bills

RENEWABLE energy supplier Bulb has announced plans to raise prices following “substantial” increases in wholesale gas and electricity costs.

The average Bulb member will see their gas and electricity bill rise by 5.1%.

It said a typical annual bill will now cost £923, up from £879 – a rise of £4 per month.

The rise will apply to all of Bulb’s more than 450,000 members on its single Vari-Fair tariff and comes into effect on August 12.

Households switching to Bulb will start on the new rates.

Bulb said that since it was founded in 2015, it has dropped its prices seven times and the increase is only the third in the company’s history.

It added that wholesale energy costs have increased by 21% since the last price change in February.

Stephen Murray, energy expert at MoneySuperMarket, said: “Bulb only has one tariff so a price rise means all its customers are affected, but even with the rise it remains amongst the lowest-priced suppliers on the market and £250 cheaper than the average Big Six standard variable tariff.”