Last two energy suppliers announce price hike

British consumers face another energy bill blow today as the last two energy suppliers to announce price increases finally made the move.

npower's increases - 26% or £162 for gas and 14% or £60 for electricity - are with immediate effect while ScottishPower's come into effect from 1st September, 2008, making it the last of the Big Six to put prices up twice:

ScottishPower puts prices up by 34.4% or £234 for gas and 9.4% or £41 for electricity from 1st September

Average household bill for a dual fuel ScottishPower customer was £959 in January 2008, £1,100 currently and will go up to £1,375 on 1st September - an increase of 43% or £416 since the beginning of the year

ScottishPower's previous increase of 15% or £89 for gas and 14% or £53 for electricity made on 2nd February 2008

It is the last supplier to increase prices twice this year.

Tim Wolfenden, Head of Home Services at uSwitch.com, says: "The industry-wide shift to higher household energy prices is now complete. All the major suppliers have increased prices for a second time this year - this is a heavy blow and few households will emerge unscathed or unconcerned about the future affordability of their energy.

"Consumers have got to adjust and there are two key steps to this - making sure we pay the lowest possible price for our energy and learning to use less of it. Consumers should look to pay by direct debit and move to an online plan where possible to get the best available prices. Now that the final increases are known, consumers should switch today so that they can start to make immediate savings."