Npower Energy Bills Up 11% Before Christmas
By : Sky News
Npower Energy Bills Up 11% Before Christmas
Energy giant npower has announced an increase in household tariffs of 9.3% for electricity and 11.1% for gas.
Chief executive Paul Massara said: "This has been a really hard decision for us and I know this news will not be welcome.
"Nobody wants to see their bills go up particularly when household budgets are being squeezed.
"We've tried to protect customers for as long as possible but the truth is we simply cannot hold off any longer.
"There are many external costs which are increasing your bills, including Government schemes and the actual cost of buying energy."
The company is the third of the so-called big six energy firms to raise prices in recent days.
On Thursday, British Gas become the second major supplier of household energy to announce a rise in its prices - by an average 9.2%.
The company said its electricity and gas prices would rise by 10.4% and 8.4% respectively from November 23 - affecting 7.8 million households.
Rival SSE announced a price hike almost two weeks ago, raising its bills by 8.2% from November 15.
Prime Minister David Cameron has called the latest increase "disappointing" and urged households to try to save money by switching suppliers.
But critics say it is more important to lock into a fixed tariff to avoid future rises.
E.ON, Scottish Power and EDF Energy are the other big providers and are yet to make announcements on their winter pricing.
The price boost by npower came after the Government confirmed a deal for EDF to build Britain's first nuclear power station in a generation.
But the Chinese-backed plant at Hinkley Point in Somerset is not expected to be commissioned until 2023 at the earliest.