Scottish Power predictably increase their gas & electricity prices

Another energy company raises its prices just in time for winter.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that Scottish Power has announced that its customers’ electricity bills will rise by an average 8.9% while gas bills will rise by 2%. It is estimated that around 2.5million Britain’s will be affected. This news follows the recent price rise announcements from British Gas and Scottish & Southern Energy.

As ever the press is full of comparison websites screaming ‘this is why you should use our site to switch your supplier and save money’. You’d expect noting less as this is how they make their money

But as I previously pointed out, whenever utility companies start raising or cutting their bills it may pay to wait until they’ve all shown their cards before switching. Otherwise you could find yourself switching to a new supplier, after your old one raised their prices, only to find the new one hiking their prices by even more.

So which utility companies have recently raised their prices?

• Scottish Power, obviously.
• 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.
• RWE npower and E.ON UK have 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.