EDF Energy hikes electricity bills for 1.2 million customers

Electricity prices will increase by 2.6% for 1.2 million EDF Energy customers this October, the energy giant announced last night.

The price hike, which will take effect from 1 October and affect customers in 11 out of 14 energy regions, means the average electricity bill will rise from £429 to £438 a year, and the average dual fuel bill from £1,159 to £1,167.

EDF Energy blames the rise on an increase in distribution and transmission costs, and will be writing to the households affected.

Thomas Lyon, energy expert at uSwitch,com, said: ‘Energy price rises are generally driven by a consistent upward trend in wholesale costs, so today’s move will catch people on the hop. But it should not be seen as a green light for price increases across the board’.

‘EDF Energy is using today’s move to adjust its prices in line with Ofgem's cost reflectivity rules - other suppliers have already made similar adjustments so we should not be expecting them all to follow suit,’ he explained.

In July Ofgem announced it is investigating two energy companies for not complying with its new pricing regulations which aim to stop energy companies varying prices unfairly depending on where you live. Although the watchdog declined to name either company under investigation, according to the Sunday Telegraph EDF is one of the companies under scrutiny.

Audrey Gallacher, head of energy at Consumer Focus, said: ‘Any rise in bills will obviously be a big disappointment to those customers already struggling to afford expensive prices. We would urge any customer affected to shop around to make sure they find the best deal’.

‘It’s worrying to see suppliers make immediate moves to pass on small increases in their network costs, when for months they have failed to pass on significant cuts in energy wholesale costs. Price hikes across the energy industry are not warranted, as these huge falls in wholesale prices have simply not been shared fairly with consumers’.