Your energy bills are about to go up again. British Gas has announced that gas prices will rise by 18% and electricity prices by 16% from 18 August. That means that the average household bill for a dual-fuel British Gas customer will now go up from £1,096 to £1,288 – an increase of £192. Why?
“We are buying in a global energy market and have to pay the market rate. Rising wholesale costs is an issue facing all energy suppliers,” says Phil Bentley, managing director of British Gas. That may sound convincing, but there’s a flaw in the logic. Wholesale costs may be on the rise but they are still a third lower than they were at their 2008 peak. British Gas prices are already 44% higher for gas and 21% higher for electricity than they were in 2008, points out Mike O’Connor of Consumer Focus in The Independent. So it is hard to see quite how these new price rises are justified.
It’s not just British Gas customers who can expect to see their energy bills rise. Scottish Power is bringing in 19% price rises from the 1 August and the rest of the ‘big six’ – EDF, E.On, nPower, Scottish & Southern – will almost certainly follow suit with their own price rises.
That means we all need to do what we can to protect ourselves from rising prices. And as soon as we can. There is, sadly, no way completely to avoid the problem – unless you strike oil in your back garden, of course. But there are ways to ease the pain.
If you aren’t on a fixed-priced energy tariff, it’s time to get on one. If you did sign up to one years ago you might want to check that it is still in effect – many have time limits. Check what you are paying, and spend ten minutes on a couple of comparison websites to see if you could be getting a better deal elsewhere. Switching suppliers every two years or so is an irritation, but it is one that could be well worth the effort.