Npower price rise adds £133 to average bill

[dutchman]

Gas and electricity supplier Npower has became the fifth of the ‘big six’ energy companies to announce above-inflation rises in household bills from the autumn.



The company said that it will put up prices to its 3.3 million UK households up by an average of 15.7 per cent for gas and 7.2 per cent for electricity from October 1. The rises mean that the average household bill for a dual fuel Npower customer will rise from £1,149 to £1,282, an increase of £133, according to Uswitch.com. Npower blamed the rise on the volatile wholesale market and increasing costs.

The increase leaves EDF Energy as the only of the UK’s large energy companies not to raise its prices.

MPs have called for a Competition Commission investigation into the gas and electricity market to establish whether the ‘big six’ companies have too big a stranglehold on the market.

Consumer groups have also criticised the price increases. One said that wholesale energy prices are actually falling, meaning that the price rises could be unnecessary.

Ann Robinson, Director of Consumer Policy at Uswitch.com, said: “With just one more major supplier left to announce, very few cash-strapped British households will be escaping a double digit increase to their energy bills this year. There’s never a good time to increase prices, but with the cost of wholesale energy now falling rapidly there has to be a question mark over whether energy companies have jumped the gun.”

“If the fall in wholesale prices continues I would urge suppliers to pass these reductions on to their customers as quickly as possible to relieve some of the pressure we expect to see on winter energy bills this year.”

Adam Scorer, director of external affairs at Consumer Focus, said: “Npower’s customers will have been dreading this announcement. It will not come as a surprise, but it will be a source of great frustration when profits are up. It is welcome that these increases are lower than the rest of the ‘big six’ but they will still be hard to swallow for hard-pressed consumers.

“Customers didn’t feel much benefit when wholesale costs were low but have seen prices rocket when costs have gone up. With wholesale costs around a third lower than their peak, understandably people are questioning whether it is right that customers face all-time high prices. Energy markets may be complex to understand, but for many consumers they just defy all common sense.”

A spokesman for EDF said that its prices are “constantly under review”.