British Gas yesterday increased the pressure on household budgets after announcing the biggest ever increase in gas prices for its 16 million customers.
The 35% rise in gas bills was blamed on higher wholesale costs but came just hours before British Gas's parent company, Centrica, was due to reveal profits of £880m for the first half of the year.
There was an excuse of course:
British Gas managing director, Phil Bentley, defended the price hike.
"We very much regret that we have had to make this decision at a time when many household budgets are already under pressure. The simple fact though is that we have entered an era of unprecedented high world energy prices. The only answer to cope with higher energy prices, I'm afraid, is for all of us to be more energy efficient."
Aye well. Oil is now less than $90 a barrel compared with over $140 a couple of months ago. And, as we were so often reminded, the wholesale price of gas is directly related.
So when are we going to see a reduction in gas prices for the consumer?
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