British Gas blames £60 a year bill increase on Government and energy costs

BRITISH GAS is to increase energy bills for 4.1m dual fuel customers on its standard variable tariff (SVT) by an average of 5.5 per cent, or £60 a year, blaming rising wholesale energy and Government policy costs.

The price of British Gas’s SVT will rise to £1,161-a-year for a typical dual fuel customer, the company’s owner Centrica, said. British Gas cited increased wholesale gas and electricity costs and the price of Tory policies as being behind its latest hike.

It blamed initiatives such as the smart meter roll-out and schemes to reduce carbon emissions, and argued that the funding of “all Government policy costs should be paid for in a fairer way such as through general taxation”.

British Gas announced plans in November to scrap SVTs for new customers ahead of Government plans to impose a price cap on costly energy products, which Centrica warned could have “unintended consequences” for the market.

But the Government issued a firm rebuttal, with energy minister Claire Perry describing the hike as “unjustified” and urged customers to switch suppliers.

“We are disappointed by British Gas’s announcement of an unjustified price rise in its default tariff when customers are already paying more than they need to,” she said.

“This is why government is introducing a new price cap by this winter to guarantee that consumers are protected from poor value tariffs and further bring down the £1.4 billion a year consumers have been overpaying the Big Six.

“Switching suppliers will always help consumers get the best deal, saving £308 by switching from a default tariff offered by the Big Six.”

MoneySavingExpert founder Martin Lewis said: “I suspect we will see some of the others follow suit, not solely because of cost increases, but because in a PR sense, now British Gas will face the full first-mover flak, they can sneak in afterwards knowing it’ll be less of a hit.”