EDF Energy to raise electricity tariffs 1.4%

EDF Energy warned customers on Thursday that it will raise the standing charge on its variable electricity services by 1.4% from June, increasing costs for as many as 1.3m British households as a result.

Following British Gas's 5.5% tariff hike announced earlier in the week, taking the price of its standard tariff to £1,161 for a typical dual fuel customer, EDF said it will increase its standard variable electricity tariff by £16 a year, raising the average cost of its service to £1,158 every year.

EDF, which is wholly owned by French state-owned group Électricité de France, will also hit customers who opt to pay their bills by cash or cheque with a £6 per fuel per year charge so that it can bring the business "closer to the real cost of serving these customers". This will mean that a dual fuel standard variable customer paying by cash or cheque would see a combined increase of £28, or 2.3%, a year to an average of £1,248 a year.

Beatrice Bigois, EDF's managing director of customers, said, "We know that price rises are not welcome and we have worked to offset rising energy and policy charges by cutting our own costs. However, these rising costs mean we will be increasing our standing charge for electricity on the 7th June"

"Most of our customers, those on a fixed tariff, or who have a direct debit gas only account, a safeguard tariff or prepayment meter will be unaffected by this change. We will be writing to affected customers this month to encourage them to choose a fixed price tariff or to pay by Direct Debit to save on their bills," she added.

EDF stated that there would be no changes to its gas prices.