British Gas 'plans to' hit 11 million customers with 9% price increase by next month

The price hike could come in as soon as next month, weeks after British Gas’s 'winter price freeze' ends.

Some 11 million British Gas customers would see their bills go up by 9 per cent

(Getty)

The UK’s biggest energy provider British Gas is reportedly preparing to hit millions of households with a price increase that could add almost £100 a year to their annual bills.

Some 11 million customers would see their bills go up by 9 per cent, according to the London Evening Standard.

The price hike could come in as soon as next month, weeks after British Gas’s “winter price freeze” ends.

According to the Standard, British Gas is expected to blame the price surge on rising wholesale energy as well as the Government’s “smart meter” policy.

The news comes after the Government last week threatened a fresh crackdown on energy providers after Npower hiked prices for more than a million customers by 9.8 per cent – adding £109 a year to bills.

A spokesman for the Prime Minister said ministers would intervene if the energy market was shown to be failing.

“Obviously, we are concerned by Npower’s planned increases. The Government is committed to getting the best deal for households,” he said.

In December, EDF announced it will raise its standard electricity tariff for UK customers by 8.4 per cent from March this year, marking the first of the Big Six energy suppliers to announce such an increase.

Energy regulator Ofgem on Tuesday announced a temporary cap on prepayment meters that it said would save four million households around £80 a year.

The announcement follows a two-year investigation into the energy market by the UK's competition watchdog which found the Big Six suppliers were overcharging customers by up to £1.4bn a year.