Cash-strapped households received more bad news after Scottish & Southern Energy and E.ON announced massive energy hikes on the same day.
E.ON will now charge 26% more for gas and 16% more for electricity, meaning the average dual fuel customer will have to pay £1,297 for their energy – an overall increase of £234, or 22%.
Just hours after E.ON made its move, SSE announced gas and electricity hikes of 29% and 19% respectively, taking its average dual fuel bill to £1,259.
Prices are soaring
Four of the big six suppliers have increased their tariffs in August (British Gas and EDF implemented similar hikes at the start of the month), and it is simply a matter of time before the remaining two follow suit.
This is the second round of price hikes this year, following a 15% increase in January, meaning that some customers are paying as much as 46% more for their energy than they were at the start of the year, as the table below shows.
| Supplier | 1st January 2008 | 1st July 2008 | After latest price rise | Total increase since 1st January |
| Npower | £908 | £1,056 | £1,056 | £148 (16%) |
| ScottishPower | £959 | £1,100 | £1,100 | £141 (15%) |
| EDF Energy | £907 | £1,007 | £1,211 | £304 (34%) |
| SSE | £875 | £1,006 | £1,259 | £384 (44%) |
| E.ON | £913 | £1,063 | £1,297 | £384 42% |
| British Gas | £912 | £1,055 | £1,328 | £416 (46%) |
| Average | £912 | £1,048 | £1,209 | £297 (33%) |
Bill sizes based on a medium user profile (20,500kWh of gas 3,300kWh of electricity per annum). Bill sizes So what can you do?
Whenever your supplier informs you of a massive price hike, it’s tempting to switch immediately to a competitor in order to show them you’re no mug.
But we would advise that you hold off switching until the two remaining suppliers have announced their price hikes, as this will give you a more accurate picture of where the best deal lies.
When you do finally switch, make sure you don’t base your decision on generic tables like the one above. Suppliers tend to offer their best deals in areas where they are looking to grow their business, so the only way to know which deal will work out cheapest for you is to visit a price comparison site.
Make sure you’re on the right tariff
Did you know that choosing the best tariff is every bit as important as finding the cheapest supplier? There are three different tariffs on the market; namely online, fixed and standard.
With the online tariff, you get a discount of around 17% compared to the other two, which works out to a saving of around £155 a year for the average household. The only other difference is that your bill is delivered to an e-mail address instead of a postal one.
The fixed or capped account costs roughly the same as the standard tariff, but it comes with the guarantee that your bills won’t rise above a predetermined point (quite handy given the current state of the market).
As for the standard tariff; this is a truly rotten deal, regardless of which supplier you’re with. Far more expensive than the online option but with none of the security of the fix, the standard tariff offers the worst of both worlds. Make sure you avoid it at all costs.
