E.ON to raise prices January next year

E.ON has announced that it is hiking its gas and electric prices by 8.7% from 18th January.

It is the last of the big six suppliers to announce a winter price rise after freezing its prices to the end of 2012. Following the hike its average dual fuel bill will go up from £1,260 a year to £1,370 - an increase of £110 and enough to make it the most expensive supplier for standard cash and cheque customers.

The move also means that the average household energy bill will reach a new all-time high of £1,352 a year - an eye-watering £251 or 23% increase since January 2011.

Ann Robinson, Director of Consumer Policy at uSwitch.com, says: "E.ON deserves credit for holding out the longest before raising its prices and for at least protecting its customers to the end of this year. But, this hike is still a bitter blow for consumers, who will now ring in the New Year with higher energy costs.

"As winter temperatures plummet, consumers could buckle under the strain of higher energy prices. This winter almost nine in ten households (87%) are expected to ration their energy use to save on bills and last winter three quarters of households (75%) went without heating at some point due to cost. The fact is that high energy prices have a big impact on consumers and leave many unable to turn on their heating for fear of running up a large bill. 

"Before resorting to this, I would urge consumers to take a couple of simple but effective steps first. We can all cut our energy bills substantially by making sure our homes are as energy efficient as possible and by making sure we are paying the lowest possible price for the energy we use. There's just over £300 a year difference between the cheapest and most expensive tariffs on the market and, if consumers are quick, they might still be able to take advantage of some of the low-cost or free home insulation offers that are around. These are disappearing fast ahead of an end-of-December deadline, but will help you to reduce your consumption, and therefore your bills, for a long time to come."