EDF hikes energy prices for 1.3 million gas and electricity customers

Increase comes just a week after regulator Ofgem raised the energy price cap

Ben Chapman
Tuesday 12 February 2019 14:10 GMT
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Prepayment meter customers will see bills come down by up to £95 while those on standard tariffs will enjoy a reduction of as much as £84
Prepayment meter customers will see bills come down by up to £95 while those on standard tariffs will enjoy a reduction of as much as £84

EDF Energy has hiked energy prices for 1.3 million gas and electricity customers by £118, becoming the second Big Six supplier in days to increase bills.

Just a week after energy regulator Ofgem raised the energy price cap brought in to protect consumers, EDF raised the price of its standard variable tariff (SVT) by 10 per cent.

The average household on an SVT with EDF will now pay £1,254 per year for gas and electricity. E.On this week hiked bills, becoming the first major company to do so in response to Ofem's cap.

Victoria Arrington at energyhelpline warned of a “tsunami” of price rises as other large providers react to Ofgem’s higher cap.

Rik Smith, energy expert at uSwitch.com, said: “As soon as Ofgem increased the price cap level it became almost inevitable that most customers on standard deals would see their bills rise right up to the cap.

“EDF Energy are the second of the Big Six suppliers to increase their prices, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see a domino effect with other energy companies following suit.

The cap came into force on 1 January, with the regulator claiming that it would save 11 million households languishing on expensive SVTs around £76 on average on their bills.

As of 1 April, the energy regulator will allow providers to charge a maximum of £1,254 for a domestic household with “typical” energy consumption. The move will add more than £1bn to energy bills in total, according to MoneySuperMarket, and cost those households an extra £117 a year.

The news came after EDF announced it would close its coal-fired power station at Cottam, in Nottinghamshire, due to “challenging market conditions”, six years earlier than unions and employees were expecting.

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The plant will cease generation at the end of September, after running for more than 50 years.

EDF said the decision reflects “the challenging market conditions over the last few years and the context of the drive to decarbonise electricity generation”, which means the Cottam plant “will not be economically viable beyond the end of September 2019”.

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