British Gas mull gas price hike

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(Xinhua) 19:47, October 18, 2013

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British Gas, the biggest energy supplier in the United Kingdom, said it plans to raise the energy price by an average of 9.2 percent from next month, local media reported Friday.

The price hikes, which announced only one week after its rival SSE, will affect nearly eight million households in the country, includes an 8.4 percent rise in gas prices and a 10.4 percent increase in electricity bills from November 23, said the British Gas.

SSE will raise the gas price by 8.2 percent from 15 November, announced the company on 10 October.

The average annual household bill in Britain will increase by 123 Great British Pounds, said British Gas, though it said it "understands the frustration" of the price rising faster than incomes.

Between June to August 2012 and June to August 2013, British employees' total pay rose by only 0.7 percent and regular pay increased by 0.8 percent, according to the data released by the Office for National Statistics earlier this week.

Ian Peters, managing director at British Gas Residential Energy, said that "I know these are difficult times for many customers and totally understand the frustration that so many household costs keep on rising when incomes are not keeping pace."

"We haven't taken this decision lightly, but what is pushing up energy prices at the moment are costs that are not all directly under our control." he added.

David Cameron, British prime minister, said at the same day that 9.2 percent gas price hike is "very disappointing" and he suggested that customers who are unhappy should try and get a "better deal" by switch energy supplier.

But according to data compiled by BBC, between August and December last year, the "big six" energy companies outlined price rises of between 6 percent and 10.8 percent.

（Editor：WangXin、Zhang Qian）