British Gas to raise electricity prices by 12.5%

British Gas will increase electricity prices by 12.5% from 15 September, its owner Centrica has said, in a move that will affect 3.1 million customers.



Gas prices are unchanged, but the average annual dual-fuel bill for a typical household on a standard tariff will rise by £76 to £1,120, up by 7.3%.

Centrica said the rise was a result of "transmission and distribution costs" and the costs of "government policy".

A government spokeswoman said its costs "could not explain these price rises".

Centrica said the price increase was its first since November 2013, adding that British Gas was one of the last suppliers to raise prices.

Centrica chief executive Iain Conn told the BBC's Today programme that wholesale costs had gone down and were not the reason for the price rise.

"We have seen our wholesale costs fall by about £36 on the typical bill since the beginning of 2014 and that is not the driver. It is transmission and distribution of electricity to the home and government policy costs that are driving our price increase."

He added: "We are selling electricity at a loss and that is not sustainable."

British Gas had frozen its gas and electricity prices for six months in February, saying at the time it was able to do so by cutting costs to offset higher wholesale prices.

The news came as Centrica's half-year results revealed that it lost 377,000 customer accounts in the first half of 2017, with its consumer earnings dropping by more than a quarter as a result.

Underlying operating profits from its UK home energy supply arm fell 26% to £381m as the group said it was also hit by warmer than normal temperatures and the pre-payment tariff cap.

Centrica's overall underlying operating profits were 4% lower at £816m for the six months to 30 June.

And they want us to go electric on transport?

According to Reuters, Centrica have lost 485,000 customers since May! - I reckon they might lose a few more now.

I'm supposedly on a fixed-price tariff and shouldn't be affected, it remains to be seen whether they will honour that commitment though.