Co-op Energy to Raise Prices

Co-operative Energy has announced a 5.2% price increase for 128,000 households on its Green Pioneer standard tariff.

The hike in gas and electricity prices, which will take effect 20 August, will add £61 to the annual bill of dual fuel households with typical use, bringing them to £1,218 a year.

The rise will also impact GB Energy subscribers on a standard variable tariff, who have been supplied by Co-op Energy since GB Energy stopped trading in November 2016. Co-op Energy users on a fixed price tariff, a prepayment tariff or a safeguard tariff for vulnerable customers will not see price increases.

Co-op’s hike comes as UK energy companies face mounting wholesale fuel price increases: up 18% since the beginning of the year and 13% from April. Wholesale costs have risen due to a surge in oil prices and a depletion of stored gas reserves during winter cold snap and March’s “Beast from the East” storm.

Co-op Energy joins most UK providers, including all of the top ten largest suppliers, and a number of smaller fuel companies, in passing these costs onto consumers. 2018 has seen 25 price increases from energy suppliers, including two separate hikes from Big Six suppliers EDF and E.On.

A spokesperson said Co-op Energy said, “customers are at the heart of everything we do,” and that supplier had “sought to absorb the significant increases in wholesale energy costs this year.”

“However, this is not sustainable indefinitely and we have therefore reluctantly taken the decision to pass on some of these costs to customers on our Green Pioneer tariff.”

Co-op Energy subscribers who will face price increases can exit their contracts penalty free and may find savings elsewhere, including with Co-op’s fixed price tariff, where average costs are £1,053/year for typical usage—now £165 cheaper than the standard variable tariff. Those on Co-op Energy’s fixed tariff will see their bills insulated against price increases until September 2019.

Lauren Smith

Lauren Smith has worked as a journalist and copywriter for most of the last decade, covering technology, energy, and consumer rights, in the US and UK.

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