Npower hikes energy prices again
13/03/2006
Npower has announced electricity and gas price hikes for domestic customers for the second time this year, as utilities companies try to offset soaring wholesale costs.
Taking effect on March 31st, electricity bills for npower customers will increase by 13.4 per cent, while gas bills will rise by 15 per cent, following a growth of 13.6 per cent for electricity and 14.5 per cent for gas at the start of the year.
Gas customers will now have to fork out nearly 30 per cent more compared to the end of last year.
This follows recent price hikes by Powergen and British Gas, with all companies citing escalating wholesale gas prices as the cause of the increases.
"While it was inevitable that npower would raise their prices again this year, we are surprised and disappointed to see them doing this so soon after their last increase took effect," remarked Ann Robinson, director of consumer policy at uSwitch.
Kevin Miles, managing director of npower, commented: "We delayed our price increases for as long as possible, and as a direct result, npower customers have saved £50 on average compared to British Gas customers over the winter."
Since the beginning of 2006, 22 million UK households have suffered from higher energy bills, according to research by uSwitch.
Taking effect on March 31st, electricity bills for npower customers will increase by 13.4 per cent, while gas bills will rise by 15 per cent, following a growth of 13.6 per cent for electricity and 14.5 per cent for gas at the start of the year.
Gas customers will now have to fork out nearly 30 per cent more compared to the end of last year.
This follows recent price hikes by Powergen and British Gas, with all companies citing escalating wholesale gas prices as the cause of the increases.
"While it was inevitable that npower would raise their prices again this year, we are surprised and disappointed to see them doing this so soon after their last increase took effect," remarked Ann Robinson, director of consumer policy at uSwitch.
Kevin Miles, managing director of npower, commented: "We delayed our price increases for as long as possible, and as a direct result, npower customers have saved £50 on average compared to British Gas customers over the winter."
Since the beginning of 2006, 22 million UK households have suffered from higher energy bills, according to research by uSwitch.
