Npower has become the fifth of the ‘big six’ energy suppliers in Britain to introduce a rise in energy prices ahead of winter. The German-owned company follows Centrica, E.On, Scottish & Southern Energy and Scottish Power to increase costs in response to rising wholesale prices.
Announcing the above-inflation rises to household bills from autumn, the 3.3 million UK households who receive their gas and electricity from Npower will receive an increase of 15.7 per cent for gas and 7.2 per cent from October. According to Uswitch.com, this will result in an increase of £134 to the average customer’s dual fuel bill.
Yesterday the company said that it expected that prices would continue to rise on the back of world events such as the nuclear crisis in Japan. Npower blamed the rise on the volatile wholesale market as well as increasing costs and stated that world events had pushed up prices.
Yet the average price rise from Npower is the lowest announced by any supplier so far and will come into effect on 1st October 2011. British Gas recently announced increases of 18 per cent for gas and 16 per cent for electricity, with E.On introducing rises of 18 per cent and 11 per cent for gas and electricity respectively.
Energy Secretary Chris Huhne speaking in June about energy price increases stated that they were “disappointing news” which demonstrated the need for Britain to shift away from a dependency on fossil fuels to increase its focus on renewable energy sources.
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