uSwitch gas & electricity news August 2004

British Gas has announced its second price rise this year. The price hike will affect millions of homes as energy prices soar by 12.4% for gas and 9.4% for electricity. British Gas customers now face paying £145.54 more than last year for their gas and electricity (typical increase for high usage customer).

Tim Wolfenden, Product Manager at uSwitch.com comments: British Gas may well have overestimated the strength of its customers loyalty. Faced with the second significant price rise in less than a year, customers are likely to vote with their feet - which will have a significant impact on their business.

uSwitch.com have added the "Capped Price" tariffs offered by ScottishPower, Manweb and Powergen onto our energy calculator.

• Capped prices guarantee that the prices that you pay for a capped fuel wont rise above the advertised price over the specified period of time.
• Capped prices doesn't mean that you'll know exactly how much your bill is going to be. It is the price you pay for each unit of electricity and gas, and the daily service charge that are guaranteed. The total cost you pay depends on the amount of units used.
• Customers can leave the tariff and/or supplier at any time with the usual 28 days notice.
• Customers will pay a premium for this security however they provide protection against price rises (widely expected in the near future), providing the customer with peace of mind about their gas and electricity bills.
• We've added the capped service feature onto the service options list located on the "supplier preferences" screen. To view capped price plans only, check the "guaranteed prices for fixed period" box.

ScottishPower and Manweb, both part of the ScottishPower group, have announced that they are increasing the prices for their gas and electricity for Online customers.

Gas prices have been increased by an average of 7.2%, whilst electricity prices have increased by an average of 6%.

The increase is effective as of 9th August for all online customers.

Customers can easily compare the competitiveness of their prospective tariffs by completing a comparison of their gas and electricity bills on our calculator.