Npower – the latest utility firm to announce price rises

Customers of energy company Npower will see their gas and electricity bills rise by 5.1% from 4 January.

The change will mean the typical dual-fuel customer with Npower will see their annual bill rise by £54, the firm said.

The announcement comes on the day that British Gas customers started paying more for their energy.

Meanwhile, E.On said it was still monitoring the market but would not raise prices before January (source BBC). This latest news follows the news that the industry watchdog Ofgem is to launch an investigation into recent energy price rises

So which utility companies have recently raised their prices?

• Npower obviously
• Scottish Power announced that its customers’ electricity bills will rise by an average 8.9% while gas bills will rise by 2%
• British Gas to raise its prices by 7% this winter.
• EDF Energy has said it will not raise gas or electricity prices for winter, with standard tariffs fixed until at least March 2011.
• Scottish & Southern Energy said in late October it would increase household gas prices by 9.4 percent at the start of December.
• E.ON UK has not yet announced any changes to their standard prices for this winter.

How to combat the price rises

It pays to vigilant when it comes to how much you pay for your energy bills and there are ways to cut your bills which don’t involve switching off the lights or turning down the thermostat. To find out how read my post Lunchtime Money Makeover – Top 6 ways to reduce your energy bills.