Double Digit Fuel Price Rises

Energy firm Npower yesterday announced double digit price rises for both its electricity and gas customers. As the fourth largest energy supplier in the UK, Npower said that they were forced to increase prices due to soaring wholesale rates. The price rises are effective from today affecting four million customers across the UK. Other energy companies are expected to follow their lead and announce increases in the coming month.

Increases - Npower / Wholesale Rates;
Electricity +12.7% / +66%
Gas +17.2% / +60%

"Today's decision was not an easy one. We always try to protect our customers for as long as possible but sadly higher energy prices are a fact of life."
Giuseppe Di Vita, Managing Director, Npower (Residential Business)

With ever increasing fuel prices across the board, it is expected that energy prices will continue to increase or remain high throughout 2008. One way you can reduce your bill is by switching energy provider. But this is not advised until the market evens itself out, for more information check out our Q&A on is it time to switch, which also offers information on ways to reduce your energy bill without switching.

As fuel prices increase so does a poverty which currently affects 4m people in the UK, and leaves a further 3m people in a category considered vunerable, leading to charities warning that some of society's most vulnerable members may be forced to choose between food and heating as fuel bills rise.

"For many people, particularly the vulnerable, price hikes mean very real decisions between choosing to heat their home or doing without other essentials"
Jenny Saunders, National Energy Action (NEA), Chief Executive

We have just added a blog post on help available to those in fuel poverty. This is a great post for finding out what grants and benefits are available to help out with the cost of energy and installing energy saving measures.