Two big utilities raise gas and power prices

By Daniel Fineren

LONDON (Reuters) - The last two of Britain's big six energy suppliers increased their retail power and gas prices on Friday, leaving most householders no escape from much bigger fuel bills this winter.

RWE Npower increased its household gas prices by 26 percent and power prices by 14 percent from Friday, while ScottishPower customers will pay 34 percent more for gas and 9 percent more for electricity from Monday.

EDF Energy, British Gas, E.ON and Scottish and Southern Energy have all announced big retail price increases since July, blaming soaring wholesale energy costs for the second round of price hikes this year.

"These are difficult times and we understand the financial impact this announcement will have on our customers. Although we're one of the last companies to announce increases, we're sorry we couldn't hold on any longer," Willie MacDiarmid, ScottishPower's Director of Energy Retail, said.

"The continuing volatility in the global market for gas is directly contributing to increasing UK domestic energy prices and ScottishPower is not immune to these rises."

ScottishPower, which is owned by Spain's Iberdrola, said wholesale gas prices had risen by 65 percent in 2008, while coal, which it burns to produce a lot of its electricity, has risen in price by 45 percent.

Npower, owned by German utility RWE, was similarly apologetic about the huge increase in household heating bills for this winter, and pledged more help for the poorest customers.

"We've made this decision extremely reluctantly, especially as household budgets are being squeezed so much at the moment," Giuseppe Di Vita, managing director of Npower, said.