16 December 2005
Energy bills will rise in 2006 to pay for soaring wholesale gas prices, the Windor-based owner of British Gas warned today.
Centrica announced that volatile gas prices would result in operating losses for British Gas in the second half of 2005, with more job cuts expected to offset rising gas prices.
In September British Gas hiked bills by 14.2 per cent but the firm warned that since then the price of wholesale gas had risen by 40 per cent.
Despite this Centrica declared that customer defection was not a large issue, compared to the same time last year when 764,000 people switched suppliers following price increases.
"Consumers will face another year of price increases as all suppliers look to recover higher wholesale costs," a Centrica spokesman warned.
Today's announcements will be unwelcome news for the large number of British households already facing fuel poverty this winter.
"2006 will be a challenging year," the spokesman added.
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