Rising wholesale costs resulted in British energy customers facing on average one price rise a week so far this year, according to research from uSwitch.
Several energy suppliers have blamed the rise of wholesale prices for increases to tariffs.
A total of 12 million households on standard variable tariffs (SVTs) now face paying a collective £840 million more for their gas and electricity, according to the price comparison site and switching service.
Energy UK said companies do not take the decision to increase prices “lightly” and the majority of input costs are out of suppliers’ direct control.
Rik Smith, an energy expert at uSwitch, said: “Rising wholesale costs have put serious pressure on energy companies in 2018, and they have responded by raising the price of their standard variable tariffs at the record breaking rate of more than one a week – adding £70 a year to bills on average.”
So far in 2018 a total of 43 price rises have been announced by 30 energy suppliers. Further rises could still happen in spite of the impending energy price cap, uSwitch said.
From 8 October, the average big six standard tariff (£1,221) will be £362 more expensive than the cheapest deal currently on the market.
uSwitch says the price rises announced this year will affect 12 million households by an average of 7 per cent, or £70 each. British Gas’ two price rises totalling 9.5 per cent (or £104) have affected the most customers and added a collective £416 million to the bills of approximately four million households.
Overall Scottish Power has increased prices the most this year amongst all the big six suppliers at 9.5 per cent, or £109), but the largest average increase from all suppliers has been announced by Economy Energy, whose 38 per cent (£311) price rise will take effect on 7 October.
Some regions however have been hit harder by the price increases than others, with EDF Energy customers seeing the greatest regional differences. Price rises range from £59 in northern Scotland to £120 in London – twice as much on an already expensive tariff.
British Gas has raised bills by £119 in the Midlands compared to £84 in north west England.
The smallest overall price rise this year from a big six supplier was from Npower in London and the north east of England at £56. The largest, EDF Energy’s £120 rise, also in London, took bills for affected customers to £1,284.
When all the big six price rises take effect, the east midlands will still be the area with the cheapest bills on average at £1,196, according to the research. Bills will be 5 per cent lower than those in south west England where combined price rises will make bills the highest in the country at an average of £1,252 per year.
In August both British Gas and Scottish Power announced standard variable bills will rise by a further £45 on average from October.
Meanwhile fellow big six supplier Eon removed online discounts worth £30 in April, while most recently, Ovo Energy removed its online discount which will push bills up by an additional £30 per fuel from October, on top of a 6.5 per cent (£75) price rise announced at the same time.
Ovo customers could see their bills rise by a total of £135.
Millions of customers have switched in a bid to save money on bills. The latest figures show that in August 3.2 million customers had switched supplier so far in 2018.
An Energy UK spokesperson said: “No one takes the decision to increase prices lightly however input costs, which make up the vast majority of an energy bill and are out of suppliers’ direct control, have increased by 14 per cent from May 2017 to May this year.
“Given these cost pressures, this underlines the need to focus on all the ways we can keep costs down for consumers be it through energy efficiency, smart meters and by not excluding the cheapest forms of low carbon generation.”
Smith, from uSwitch, added: “With no end in sight to increases in the cost of gas and electricity, now is the time to secure a better deal – wherever you live.
“The government’s proposed cap on standard energy tariffs is expected to be in place by the end of 2018 December, but households stand to gain far more by switching away from these poor value plans than relying on the cap – which will change every six months and will be set at a higher level if wholesale energy costs continue to rise.”