One of the UK’s energy giants has announced that customers will be facing hikes in their winter fuel bills as the cost of energy usage is set to increase. British Gas has confirmed that energy prices could rise by 7 percent this winter, leaving customers facing higher bills. The energy company has blamed rising wholesale costs for the price increase, and said that the increase would come into effect on 10th December.
The news is bad for all customers, but for those that are already struggling with debts and financial commitments the situation could be even worse. Whilst households can cut back on certain things in order to save money and keep on top of their debt repayments they have little control over how much they have to pay for their energy usage, and the news comes at a time when many households will be using their heating more than usual due to the cold weather.
A number of industry groups have already expressed concern over the fact that many people that have debt issues are going to be hit even harder over the coming months due to rising inflation, rising unemployment resulting from the government’s Spending Review, and now the increase in energy prices just as the cold weather sets in. British Gas said that it realised that the price hike had come at a difficult time for many, but had to be imposed due to the increase in wholesale energy prices.
One official said: “After a two year lull, household energy prices are about to resume their steady climb upwards again. Unfortunately for consumers, the 8% or £99 reduction seen over the last two years failed miserably to reverse the impact of the 42% or £381 increase seen in 2008. And now, whatever small benefit was seen is about to be wiped back out again.”