Consumers warned of bigger energy bills

SSE, formerly known as Scottish & Southern Energy, has already announced that from Monday next week it will increase tariffs by nine per cent on average in a move impacting around five million electricity customers and 3.4 million gas account holders.

Concerns have been raised that other energy giants could follow suit as temperatures plummet, in a further blow to households squeezed by high living costs and low wage rises.

E.ON has said that while it will not raise prices in 2012, no decision has been taken about what will happen when January comes around.

Martin Lewis, founder of consumer help website MoneySavingExpert.com, said: “Energy companies are like sheep – where one leads, the rest will follow.

“It is likely but not guaranteed that price hikes are coming. People should be taking preventative action.”

Mr Lewis said people on a standard tariff should be looking into a cheap fixed tariff, which could save them more than £200 a year. Some fixed-rate tariffs also guarantee no price hikes for two winters.

He said people should act as “a matter of urgency” as some of the cheapest fixed deals have already disappeared. “That is what happens in a price hike environment,” he said. “There is only a finite amount of fixed money.”

A survey published by Consumer Focus last month estimated that around six million households are planning to cut back on their heating this winter. Nearly four out of 10 households are worried about affording their energy bills this winter, and 70 per cent of those, or six million households across England, plan to reduce their heating, the survey found.

SSE, the UK’s second largest energy provider, has said the bill hikes come in response to energy price increases in wholesale markets, as well as rising costs of using the National Grid network.