Energy company Npower has become the third major supplier to increase its electricity and gas prices by 9.3% and 11.1% respectively.
Dual fuel bills will rise by an average 10.4% from December 1 – a move that will affect a total of 3.1million across the UK. The increase means an average dual fuel bill will rise by £136 a year, from £1,323 to £1,459.
The news, which was greeted with anger and dismay by cross-party politicians and housing and consumer groups yesterday, comes just days after British Gas and SSE announced price hikes.
Npower blamed the higher cost of delivering power to homes, meeting government schemes and rising fuel costs, insisting it makes a “fair return for delivering reliable energy to consumers”.
But Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she was “extremely disappointed” because many consumers were already struggling to pay their fuel bills. She claimed the only way to tackle the issue was to vote for independence next year and promised that an SNP government would reduce bills by 5% or £70 per household.
UK Energy and Climate Change Secretary Edward Davey described the news as “another disappointing announcement from a big energy company”.
“Some of the ‘Big Six’ seem not to have noticed that they are no longer alone in the market – there are now 15 small suppliers, and some really competitive fixed deals out there,” he added. A spokesman for Prime Minister David Cameron said nobody wanted to see higher bills.
“He very much understands why households are angry,” he added.
Labour’s shadow energy minister Tom Greatrex said consumers would be “shocked” by the news.
He claimed they were paying the price of David Cameron and First Minister Alex Salmond’s failure to stand up to the big energy companies.
Mr Greatrex said: “When times are tough, energy companies should be helping their customers not hitting them with more price rises to boost their profits.”