Homes face paying an average extra £250 a year for electric and heating bills as another supplier has announced price increases.
E.ON is putting prices up by an average of 3% or £19 for gas and 9% or £42 for electricity from February 4.
The price hike will affect almost 4.5 million customers and pulls the company’s pricing in line with other suppliers who have already increased costs.
E.ON is the fifth and last of the major suppliers to put prices up this winter.
Scottish Power’s tariffs went up on November 25, with SSE’s kicking-in on December 1, followed by British Gas on December 10. npower’s increase came into effect January 4,while EDF Energy has announced a price freeze on standard tariffs until March.
The average annual bill for a dual fuel (gas and electricity) E.ON customer will be £1,249 compared to £1,187 before the increase.
Energy customers can save £370 a year shopping around
E.ON increased prices by 42% or £384 in 2008 and has cut prices by 8% (£110) since – today’s rise means bills will be 37% or £336 higher than in early 2008.
Ann Robinson, Director of Consumer Policy at uSwitch.com, that runs a power bill comparison service, said: “There is a glimmer of hope that wholesale prices, which are the main driver behind price increases, will fall in the spring. If this happens, consumers have every right to expect suppliers to be just as swift in cutting their prices down again.“
The difference between the cheapest and most expensive standard energy plan is £370, according to uSwitch.
The most expensive energy plan is Scottish Power’s standard plan at £1,357 a year, while EDF Energy’s Online Saver 8 at £987 a year is the cheapest.
Consumer Focus, a pressure group speaking out for power supplier customers, is calling for more details about energy costs to check if companies are charging fair prices.
“Consumers simply don’t trust that suppliers are asking them to pay a fair price for their energy. With high prices, a complex market, and consumers being asked to pay billions of pounds to improve our energy supply, it is essential that confidence in energy prices be improved. Ofgem’s review of the market needs to meet these high expectations,” said a spokesman.
