Energy News

EDF customers hit with first price hike

Friday 25 July, 2008

By becca.talbot@consumerchoices.co.uk

EDF has shocked its customers by being the first energy provider to announce tariff price increases, with fuel bills rising by more than 20%, with immediate effect.

Earlier today, energy supplier EDF, one of the UK’s biggest power firms, announced that the price of its electricity has risen by 17% and the price of gas by 22%.

The price hikes, which have come into effect immediately, will add £3.97 a week to EDF’s standard dual-fuel tariff, amounting to over £200 on top of the average annual household energy bill of £1,000.

The French-owned firm, which has more than five and a half million customers across London, the south-east and East Anglia, blamed the price hike on wholesale energy price rises, claiming since January coal prices have risen 70%, gas prices have increased by 93% and electricity prices are up 47%.

Eva Eisenschimmel, chief operating officer of EDF Energy’s customer branch, said: “Record world oil prices have continued to drive up wholesale prices. Alongside unprecedented rises in wholesale coal and electricity costs, this has impacted hugely on the cost of supplying energy to our customers.

“We have been absorbing some of these costs in recent months, but we now have to pass on some of the resulting rises in wholesale costs to our customers.”

The energy giant has reaffirmed its moves to aid consumers facing fuel poverty, by stating that more than 100,000 of the supplier’s most vulnerable customers will benefit from a 15% discount following the expansion of the company’s social tariff.

Charity Age Concern said news of the price hikes is going to have a detrimental effect on British pensioners already struggling to pay their energy bills. It’s predicted that the 2.25 million older people already living in fuel poverty will be joined by thousands more by the end of the year.

Age Concern’s director, Gordon Lishman, has called for government aid for the vulnerable consumers: “The help being offered to the poorest and most vulnerable energy customers by the government and energy companies is woefully inadequate.”

The charity is hoping for an emergency voucher system offering £50 each to anyone over the age of 70 who is receiving pension credit.

Consumers are being urged by all energy Watchdogs to switch their energy tariffs to ones with capped rates now, as these offers are expected to be axed by the energy providers before the end of summer.

Chris Eagle of EnergyChoices.co.uk says: “The immediate rise in fuel prices is certainly going to have an impact on EDF customers, and it won’t be long before all the other energy providers follow suit.”

Chris continues: “Switching to a capped tariffs now is the only way to avoid the long term effect of these price rises.”

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