It has been confirmed that British Gas will increase its Standard Variable Tariff (SVT) by 3.8% from the 1st October, effecting 3.5 million customers.
The hike will see the average bill increase by £44, to an approximate £1,205 a year.
Last month it was announced that profits had dropped by 16% in the first half of 2018, allegedly in response to climbing wholesale costs, the expense of rolling out smart meters and the introduction of a price cap on prepayment meters.
Mark Hodges, chief executive of Centrica’s consumer arm said:
“We understand that any price increase adds extra pressure on customers’ household bills. However, this reflects the sharp rise in wholesale costs.
In response to the rapidly rising wholesale market costs, since April a number of other energy supply companies have increased their SVT prices and Ofgem have also announced a second increase to the prepayment meter cap.”
British Gas also stated that its average bill was ‘just below’ the average of other ‘Big Six’ energy suppliers.
