Energy firm SSE will increase its domestic gas and electricity prices by an
average of 9% from 15 October.
It blamed the increases on the extra cost of using the gas and electricity
networks and rising costs in energy wholesale markets.
SSE, which also trades as Scottish Hydro and Swalec, said five million
electricity customers and 3.4 million gas customers would be affected.
However, there will be no more price rises before the second half of 2013.
The forthcoming increases mean that a customer with an average standard
dual-fuel bill will pay an extra £102 for the year, or £1,274 in total.
The company's chief executive Ian Marchant, said the forthcoming increases
were regrettable but unavoidable.
"We pledged last summer to cap our energy prices for as long as possible and
until at least August 2012, and then in January extended this pledge to October
2012," he said.
"Unfortunately, the increases in costs that we have seen since making this
pledge can no longer be absorbed and mean that we are unable to keep prices at
their current levels beyond this autumn," he added.
In May, the company reported a 2% rise in annual pre-tax profits to £1.33bn,
though profits in its division which supplies electricity and gas to homes and
businesses fell 20% to £321.6m.
Energy market
'broken'
In 2011, all the big-six energy suppliers raised their prices, in some cases
twice.
But earlier this year they all staged a round of small price cuts, affecting
either their gas or their electricity customers.
SSE cut its gas prices by 4.5% in March this year.
However, in May, Centrica - which owns British Gas - warned that continued
increases in the wholesale price of gas might lead to renewed domestic price
rises this autumn.
Richard Lloyd, of the consumers' association Which?, said: "We can't go
through another winter with people worrying about their energy bills, the
government and the regulator must reform our broken energy market."
Martin Lewis, of the consumer website MoneySavingExpert.com, said many people
could save money by switching to one of the fixed-rate deals currently on
offer.
"Two major energy companies are currently offering cheap fix deals at the
same price as the cheapest variable deals, cutting many people's bills by
hundreds of pounds and guaranteeing no price rises for up to two winters," he
said.
"More surprisingly, those tariffs do not involve exit penalty lock-ins, so
you can leave whenever you want."
All domestic energy tariffs are available at GET ME CHEAP BILLS .COM
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