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npower becomes third provider to raise energy prices

Rebecca Rutt
by Lovemoney Staff Rebecca Rutt on 12 October 2012  |  Comments 8 comments

The domino effect is kicking into action with the energy companies as npower becomes the latest to announce a price hike.

npower becomes third provider to raise energy prices

npower has become the next provider to increase its prices, announcing a rise of 9.1% in electricity and 8.8% in gas from Monday 26th November.

This will add an average of £109 a year onto the average dual fuel bill.

Earlier today British Gas also announced it was pushing up prices by 6% from 16th November. 

In a statement the chief commercial officer for npower, Paul Massara, said the costs of statutory schemes, distribution charges and the price of gas are all being driven up by "external factors" such as new Government policies.

He explained that until now customers had been "protected" from price hikes but the time had come for these to be passed down to consumers.

Rising energy bills

The first provider this year to announce a hike was Scottish and Southern Electric back in August. Its prices will go up by 9% from 15th October.

Last year all of the ‘big six’ providers announced price hikes within a few weeks of each other. There are now three remaining companies - E.ON, EDF and Scottish Power - left to announce a hike. And it’s predicted this will happen imminently.

What can you do now?

As it’s only a matter of time before the other providers follow suit, the best thing to do right now is review your energy plan and try and switch providers, if you can.

Switching to a fixed deal gives you the security and peace of mind of having one payment each month which won’t change. However, before you do anything you’ll need to check details such as penalties for breaking a contract early.

Our comparison tables provide a full view of the energy market and will outline exactly how much you can save by switching and here are the cheapest fixed deals on the market.

 Cheapest fixed energy deals on the market

Supplier

Tariff

Average cost

Average saving*

Fixed until

First Utility

iSave Fixed v4

£1,087

£283

31 March 2014

OVO Energy

New energy Fixed

£1,088

£282

12 months

Scottish Power

Online Fixed Price energy April 2014

£1,140

£230

31 March 2014

EDF

Blue+Price Promise May 2014

£1,143

£227

1 May 2014

OVO Energy

Green Energy Fixed

£1,147

£223

12 months

Scottish Power

Online Fixed Energy November 2014

£1,154

£216

31 October 2014

* based on average dual fuel tariff costing £1,370 (source: energyhelpline)

More on energy:

Simpler energy bills won't mean lower prices

Is Economy 7 a big con?

Scottish Power: fix your energy bills for two years

The Green Deal explained

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Comments (8)

  • bengilda
    Love rating 77
    bengilda said

    Rebecca is quite right to say "This will add an average of £109 a year onto the average duel fuel bill." It will be a fight to the end, quite a duel to see which utility company can win the most from us before we freeze to death.

    Report on 12 October 2012  |  Love thisLove  0 loves
  • meldrewreborn
    Love rating 44
    meldrewreborn said

    Quite interesting that according to Which? Electricity prices have remained fairly constant over past 20 odd years in real terms - that is inflation adjusted - while gas prices have indeed increased even in real terms.

    As consumers we need to get real over all this - fossil fuels are in decline and will become more expensive - get used to it!!!

    However, you can insulate walls, loft and floors and fit double glazing. You can use energy saving appliances and all of these things can reduce your consumption and your bills. You can switch suppliers for the most effective tariff and monitor what is going on closely. But even when you've done all this your bills will likely go up - blame all those people in the rest of the world who now aspire to live as comfortably as we do and use the same amount of energy as we do for the rise in demand for fuels.

    Personally I'm grateful I live here in a stable democracy where we can moan and bitch about things even if they're down to market forces. But people here need to get real - things on fuel costs will only get worse!

    Report on 12 October 2012  |  Love thisLove  0 loves
  • Mike10613
    Love rating 599
    Mike10613 said

    Is there competition or a cartel? The people will decide. It will be mostly the sick and disabled who will suffer, Higher fuel charges and reduced benefits; nice combination.

    Report on 12 October 2012  |  Love thisLove  0 loves
  • mknee
    Love rating 6
    mknee said

    Fossil fuels are only part of the picture - these energy companies are out of control. I know lots of people working in the industry & they are inefficient & poorly run with no care for costs - but why should the energy companies care? Just push the costs onto us mugs paying the bills since there is nothing we can do about it.....

    When are government going to step in & get this cartel under control?

    Report on 12 October 2012  |  Love thisLove  0 loves
  • fenemore
    Love rating 202
    fenemore said

    There is NO competition whatsoever - putting energy into the private sector was complete nonsense from the outset.

    If I hear one more so called "expert" bleating on about "insulation" and "reducing your consumption" etc etc. EVERY time this happens, the same old advice gets trotted out. If we were to act upon this advice everytime it is given, my house would be surrounded by about 12 feet of insulation, every door and window would be 3 feet thick. All to what end?

    If all the consumers managed to reduce their consumption - the energy companies are not going to sit there smug and complacent - they are going to panic. Apart from the wholesale costs, their other costs are constant. Salaries still have to be paid, maintenance still has to be carried out - none of this will reduce. So inevitably the price would have to go up yet again to make up for the lost revenue, putting us back to square one!

    Then there is the issue of "green energy" - don't get me started - what a complete load of nonsense that is. It stands no chance - if the world stopped consuming hydrocarbon fuels, this planet would become an even more dangerous place as those volatile country's who's entire economy is built on oil would be bankrupt overnight. The instability this would create is too awful to contemplate.

    For the same reason, if an inventor came up with a way of running a car on tap water, you would never hear about it.

    Report on 13 October 2012  |  Love thisLove  0 loves
  • Arblaster
    Love rating 41
    Arblaster said

    It is a good idea to move from npower.irrespective of tariff. Anyone who has had to deal with their call centre while trying to mop up their administrative blunders will know the reason why.

    Report on 13 October 2012  |  Love thisLove  0 loves
  • HUFC
    Love rating 2
    HUFC said

    From what I've seen, power companies are introducing higher standing charges & reducing consumption fees. So lower consumption is not necessarily going to significantly reduce your bills unless you find one with lower standing charges

    Report on 14 October 2012  |  Love thisLove  0 loves
  • athomik
    Love rating 11
    athomik said

    Power companies have a captive market. When their costs go up, our costs go up, when their costs go down, our costs don't. Nobody can just turn around and boycott gas or electricity.

    The government could step in by scrapping their ludicrous CO2 targets and "green" taxes which are spent to subsidise ill thought out and unreliable technologies. According to the Met Office, global warming hasn't happened for the last 16 years.

    Report on 15 October 2012  |  Love thisLove  0 loves

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