One million EDF customers on standard variable tariffs will be hit by an 8.4 per cent rise in electricity bills from March. The announcement comes just days after Ofgem named and shamed the worst suppliers for putting customers on the expensive plans.
EDF defended the move, saying that it had not raised its standard electricity price in more than three years. It said that “a number of electricity costs have risen substantially” since its last increase, forcing it to raise the cost of electricity bills for around one million customers.
The French energy company did however pass on savings it made in its gas division, with variable rates on gas set to be cut by 5.2 per cent from January. A total of 700,000 customers will benefit from the decrease in gas bills.
Beatrice Bigois, Managing Director of Customers at EDF Energy, said: “Many industry commentators have said that prices charged by energy suppliers will rise after the winter.
“We are being open about the fact our electricity prices will go up after our price freeze. But we also know it is right to pass on to loyal customers the fall in gas costs that energy suppliers have seen over recent months.”
The move comes days after Ofgem released a league table showing how much money customers could save by switching from a ‘standard variable’ rate tariff, the energy plan a customer is put on if they don’t choose a specific plan.
The data showed that some Npower customers could save up to £261 by switching to a cheaper plan at the company.
Out of the ‘big six’ energy providers, EDF had 56 per cent of its customer base on these typically more expensive tariffs whilst SSE had the worst proportion with 91 per cent customers on ‘standard variable’ rate tariffs.
