EDF is the latest of the big electricity suppliers to announce that its customers can expect to see an increase in electricity prices – it has just announced that it will be putting up its gas and electricity prices on March 2nd 2011. The energy supplier was the only energy company to freeze its prices over the winter.
EDF has announced that it will be putting up electricity prices by 7.5 per cent and gas costs by 6.5 per cent.
It is estimated that this latest move from one of the country’s biggest electricity suppliers will see around 3.3 million customers being affected by the price increase. For the average household using both electricity and gas, this could see a £6 per month rise, from £1,046 a year to £1,118 a year, also this could affect building insurance. But there is a bright side – because the price hike doesn’t come into effect until the spring, energy consumption by most homes should have dropped by then, so the increase may not be noticed until the first winter bills come in.
EDF is the last of the big six electricity suppliers to announce a rise in prices. First to push up its prices was Scottish Power, which made its announcement in November 2010, while Scottish and Southern was quick to follow in its footsteps and make the most of what proved to be the coldest December in the UK for 100 years. Scottish Power raised its prices by 2 per cent for gas and electricity prices rose by a rather high 8.9 per cent. That price rise was estimated to have affected around 2.5million households and to have seen average yearly bills for customers using gas and electricity, rise by a massive £52 a year.
However, it wasn’t as bad as the last price rise announced by Scottish Power in 2008, when the average bill rose by around £959 a year – a huge jump of 43 per cent.
At the beginning of December 2010, British Gas also bumped up its gas and electricity prices, leading to an average increase of 7 per cent for households, while Southern and Scottish Energy customers saw a 9.4 per cent increase come their way.
Now that the big electricity suppliers have all announced their latest price rises and the energy market may be entering a period of stability (for a short while anyway), it may be a good time to consider switching to a cheaper energy supplier.
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