LONDON - As expected, British Gas has joined several other gas suppliers and has hiked the price of gas by a whooping 14.2 percent citing the surging oil prices as the main reason behind this hike. 18 million British households will be forced to bear the brunt of this hike and as is obvious, they are not best pleased.
This hike is expected to add £96 to the average annual bills of the customers with a typical three-bedroom semi-detached house forced to shell out £462 as against the current £405 for their gas supply and £307 for their electricity bills as against the current £268. Centrica-owned British Gas said that the hike would be effective from September 19.
But USwitch.com, an online price comparison service, put the effect on consumers' pockets slightly higher at £104 and pointed out that this huge hike was by far the biggest by any supplier so far, "There’s no doubt today’s price rise by British Gas will come as a real blow to customers, particularly those customers who’ve already paid the price for remaining loyal to them following last year’s record hikes. Anyone still with British Gas would do well now to shop around for a better deal," said Alan Tattersall, director of home services at uSwitch.com.
Powergen and EDF Energy have already announced hikes in their respective bills and though it was a foregone conclusion that British Gas would follow suit, no one expected this exponential hike. "In these difficult times it is more important than ever that our customers take action to save energy and so reduce their bills. British Gas already invests £130 million a year in energy efficiency measures for customers and we will now offer additional incentives for those that are prepared to take action," said Mark Clare, managing director at British Gas.
The company said that spiraling oil prices, which have hit $70 a barrel in the international markets plus the depleting North Sea reserves, have forced its hand. "Spiralling world oil prices are now having an unprecedented impact on the cost of gas as the UK is now dependent on imports," Clare pointed out. But the company is aware that some customers cannot afford to pay the hiked bills and is therefore introducing a £60 rebate for 250,000 of the poorest customers.
Posted
on : Fri, 09 Sep 2005 18:35 GMT | General News
By : Chris Rowe
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