Govt says CPI and RPI is falling LOL...............
Energy bills 'to rocket by 25%'
British Gas will announce the price hike this month in letters to its
11 million consumers, according to the Mail on Sunday newspaper.
The company pointed to sharp increases in wholesale prices but declined to comment on the timing or scale of increases.
The newspaper said the announcement of the rise would be made by the end of the month but could come as early as next week.
It quoted a senior British Gas source as saying it would be between 22% and 25%, more than 10 times the rate of inflation.
Other power companies are certain to follow suit, and the rises will affect gas and electricity prices equally, it said.
It quoted an insider as saying: "Directors have agonised about taking the decision because they know it is going to hurt everybody. But the harsh reality is we have no choice."
A spokesman for Centrica, the parent company of British Gas, said: "Wholesale gas prices for 2006 are up about 75% on 2005.
"Clearly all suppliers are buying their gas in the same market, therefore we would expect that suppliers will be increasing their tariffs substantially as we go through 2006."