Bulb Energy has announced it will raise prices following “sustained higher prices in the wholesale gas and electricity markets,” it said in a statement.
The average Bulb customer’s gas and electricity bills will go up by 2.8 per cent. The rise will apply to all of Bulb’s 300,000 customers, who are all on the only tariff it offers, the Vari-Fair tariff, and will come into effect on 28 April 2018.
But Bulb said its customers will still be paying less than they were a year ago, because it cut prices twice last year.
Hayden Wood, Bulb co-founder, said: “We have one tariff, which reflects the true cost of energy. When wholesale energy costs move, so does our tariff. These costs have been rising and are now around 11 per cent higher than they were in July of last year. As a result, from April, our price will be going up by £2 per month for the typical Bulb member.”
He added that the rise was considerably lower than the “price hikes we saw from other suppliers before the winter” and said the changes will only come into effect in the spring, when bills are expected to come down thanks to the warmer weather.
All customers will receive 60 days’ notice of the rise and can leave at any time, without incurring any exit fees.
Elsewhere, last month it was announced a number of IRESA customers are facing a sudden direct debit increase or a one-off payment of hundreds of pounds – and in some cases both. In the light of GB Energy Supply and Future Energy both hiking their direct debits shortly before closure, there was concern this was a warning sign that another small supplier is in trouble.