We’re increasing our tariff for a typical home by 12.6% across a dual fuel tariff. That means an average increase of £10.68 per month*.
This price change will affect existing customers on our SVT from 8th September 2018. And it is in place for new customers from today, 3rd August.
The rise is slightly higher than we predicted it would be back in June when we gave advanced notice that an increase would be necessary this year. Unfortunately this is because of increased uncertainty in the energy market. But we remain cheaper than the Big Six energy suppliers.
82% of our customers are unaffected, as they’re on fixed deals with us. And we are urging all our SVT customers to switch to a fixed deal with us.
Why are we doing it?
We don’t take any price increase lightly, and we’ll only do it when absolutely necessary. However since November 2016, wholesale electricity prices have risen by around 15% and gas by 30%.
Government policy costs have also increased significantly, including clean energy subsidies and the smart meter programme. We’ve worked hard to reduce our own costs, to absorb some of these increases. But we can’t offset the rise in the wholesale market.
So what has caused this price rise?
• Increased uncertainty across the world, causing commodities to rise, including gas and electricity. Oil prices have increased by 44% since November 2016, largely because of conflicts in the Middle East, and ongoing tensions and trade disagreements between the USA, Europe, Russia and China
• An almost 400% increase in the cost of carbon certificates. Most electricity generation has some level of carbon associated with its generation, so this pushes up the cost of energy
• Significant decreases to the amount of major gas storage in the UK (Rough) and in Europe (Groningen) have caused concerns about supply
• Wholesale prices shot up in February during the ‘Beast from the East’. This has created uncertainty in the market about the UK's ability to cope with extreme weather.
Find out more about how we keep our prices fair.
*Using Ofgem’s typical domestic consumption value.