British Gas announces massive price increases

[calamity jane]

http://www.utilityweek.co.uk/news/ne...rice+increases

British Gas has announced massive price hikes for both electricity and gas. The company will raise domestic tariffs for gas by an average 18 per cent and for electricity by an average of 16 per cent on 18 August 2011.


The company blamed rising wholesale gas prices and made a plea to customers not to switch. The company does not have any coal fired plant to hedge against such increases, although it does have its own upstream gas assets.

"Rising wholesale costs is an issue facing all energy suppliers," said MD Phil Bentley. "Our advice to customers is to wait and see what happens in the energy retail market as a whole before making any decisions about switching supplier."

The hike will see average bills rise by £16 a month. Energy suppliers are now heavily promoting fixed deals to concerned households.
Source: Utility Week


CJ

[SpringerSpaniel]

Re: British Gas announces massive price increases

BBC News - British Gas owner Centrica reports £1.3bn profit

[enaid]

Re: British Gas announces massive price increases

Give em a break, how they supposed to pay this



BRITISH Gas has been fined a record £2.5million for mishandling complaints.

Watchdog Ofgem found it failed to properly re-investigate cases of unhappy customers.

And people weren’t even told they could take their grievances to an ombudsman. The firm was also rapped for its dealings with small businesses. The fine comes shortly after the company announced gas will go up 18% and electricity by 16% on August 18. The move, affecting nine million, will take the average yearly bill to £1,287.


Ofgem chief Sarah Harrison said: “Our findings highlight basic failures.” Audrey Gallacher, director of Consumer Focus, added: “It all adds to the lack of trust in energy companies.”

British Gas claimed the findings were “disproportionate”. But Ofgem is also investigating rival supplier Npower and EDF Energy for complaint handling, while Scottish Power, Scottish and Southern Energy, EDF Energy and Npower are being probed over mis-selling.

British Gas is today expected to announce half-yearly profits halved from £585million to £293million due to soaring wholesale costs and lower energy use. Profits at owner Centrica will be down from £1.56billion to £1.3billion.



Read more: British Gas fined 2.5m for customer complaint errors - mirror.co.uk