NightBlogger

British Gas yesterday increased the pressure on household budgets after announcing the biggest ever increase in gas prices for its 16 million customers. The 35% rise in gas bills was blamed on higher wholesale costs but came just hours before British Gas’s parent company, Centrica, was due to reveal profits of £880m for the first half of the year. Consumer groups reacted with anger to news that will dismay every gas-using household in the country. The move is expected to send another 1 million families into fuel poverty if replicated across the industry. EDF Energy, one of the other five major suppliers, announced a 22% rise in gas prices last week. Adam Scorer, of the consumer group Energywatch, said he was surprised by the increase. “I’m not sure that many consumers will be able to fully take in the news that their gas bills are going up by over a third,” he said. More

Photo aturkus

Farmers Almanac predicts 2008 will be the warmest year of the past century. Soaring crude oil prices drove the benchmark market price of electricity to a record last month which means consumers will be paying higher prices for the next two quarters.

“Electricity rates are climbing across the board after several years of relatively flat prices. The average cost per kilowatt hour has increased from 8.4 cents in 1997 to 10.64 cents last year. That’s an increase of 24% in the past decade. These figures are from December 2006 to December 2007. Price increases have hit double digits in many states. Illinois saw an increase of 33%, and Hawaii saw rates climb just below 30%. Maryland, Oklahoma, and the District of Columbia aren’t far behind with double-digit gains. One expert said the deregulation of energy markets means consumers are more exposed to price fluctuations.” Read more

Photo by Jeff Keen
The cost of a basket of 24 basic items such as tea bags, milk, cornflakes and pasta sauce at the three biggest stores has risen by 15 per cent over the past year. The increases suggest that supermarket food inflation is more than seven times the official rate of inflation. Any large family that spent £100 a week on its grocery shopping now has to spend an extra £780 a year to buy the same products.
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