Direct Debit customers

If you pay by Direct Debit on one of our standard variable tariffs, from 1 April the cost of a typical dual fuel energy bill went up by 10.3%, or £117 a year on average.

  • Typical gas bill went up by 9.4% - including a £3 increase in the standing charge.
  • Typical electricity bill went up by 11.0% - including a £2 increase in the standing charge.

Receipt of Bill customers

If you pay by Receipt of Bill on one of our standard variable tariffs, from 1 April the cost of a typical dual fuel energy bill went up by 10.1%, or £123 a year on average.

  • Typical gas bill went up by 9.3% - including a £3 increase in the standing charge.
  • Typical electricity bill went up by 10.8% - including a £3 increase in the standing charge.

Prepayment customers

If you have a prepayment meter, the cost of a typical dual fuel energy bill on our standard variable tariffs went up by 9.3%, or £106 a year on average.

  • Typical gas bill went up by 9.4% - including a £1 increase in the standing charge.
  • Typical electricity bill went up by 9.3% - including a £5 increase in the standing charge.

The price cap means the price per unit of energy you pay and your daily standing charge can't go above the level set by Ofgem. It’s not a cap on your energy bill, which will rise or fall depending with how much energy you use. The cap is updated by Ofgem twice a year, depending on how the cost of supplying energy to your home changes.

The tariffs affected by the price cap are:

  • Standard Variable
  • Juice
  • Safeguard
  • Cap Tracker September 2020

But if you’re affected, you’ll have received a letter around the end of February about how the 1 April price change affects you. You’ll also see your new prices on your bill or statement.

If you’re on any of our other fixed tariffs when the prices change, you won’t be affected until that tariff ends.

 
Our gas and electricity prices have changed because of the price cap, which has been put in place to protect customers on default tariffs, or on tariffs with (or linked to) standard variable rates. The cap is a limit set by Ofgem on the cost of gas and electricity, which became effective from 1 April 2017 for prepayment customers and 1 January 2019 for customers paying by Direct Debit or Receipt of Bill. It’s then updated every April and October to reflect changes in industry costs - such as wholesale, network and policy costs.

Network and policy costs are making up a bigger and bigger part of your electricity bill. Here’s how a typical bill is made up:

Electricity bill costs

Chart of Electricty Bill Costs

Gas bill costs

Chart of Gas Bill Costs

These breakdowns are based on an estimate of costs at Ofgem’s annual average consumption - 3,100 kWh for standard rate electricity and 12,000 kWh for mains gas, and also market average margin returns as per Ofgem’s methodology of calculating the default tariff price cap. Learn more about what makes up your energy bill.

The price cap is a limit set by Ofgem to protect customers on default tariffs, or on tariffs with (or linked to) standard variable rates. It became effective from 17 April 2017 for prepayment customers, and from 1 January 2019 for Direct Debit and Receipt of Bill customers. It’s then updated every April and October to reflect changes in industry costs - such as wholesale, network and policy costs.
If you’re affected by the price cap, you’ll have received a letter around the end of February, telling you how the 1 April 2019 price change affects you. You’ll also see your new prices on your bill or statement.
If you pay by Direct Debit, we automatically review your account twice a year. And if you’re paying too much or too little for the energy you’re using, we’ll take this and the price change into account at your next Direct Debit review. But you don’t have to wait for your next review - just log in on or after 13 February and check you’re on track with your Direct Debit payments, and we’ll tell you if you’re paying the right amount to cover the cost of the energy you’re using, based on the new prices. Not got an online account? Activate now
From 1 April 2019, most customers on our Standard Variable tariff will have seen their energy bills go up. You'll have received a letter telling you how you’re affected.
If you’re on a fixed price tariff, your prices won’t be affected.