Oh No, Not Higher Energy Prices AGAIN!

It's been a bad week: EDF Energy announces higher gas and electricity prices, then British Gas follows suit. But we have some great news for you...

More bad news for hard-pushed households: another round of price hikes is under way for the UK's domestic energy users.

On Monday, EDF energy announced that, with effect from the end of this month, its gas prices will shoot up by 19% and electricity prices by between 8% and 9.1%. This is the second time that the energy group has raised energy prices for its five million domestic customers this year. Scottish Power has also raised its energy prices twice in 2006, and now British Gas has followed suit.

British Gas has just announced that its prices for its 10.7 million gas customers will rise by an eighth (12.4%) in September, with prices for its 5.8 million electricity customers increasing by almost a tenth (9.4%). This comes on top of a 22% price hike by British Gas in March of this year. In total, British Gas has almost doubled its gas prices in the last three years (up 91%), with its electricity charges following closely behind (up 81%).

Energy firms have blamed these price increases on rising wholesale energy costs, which have soared by almost four-fifths (80%) in the past year alone. Also, the UK is becoming increasingly reliant on imported gas from the Continent as our domestic gas supplies run out. Hence, we should expect this trend to continue, at least in the short to medium term.

So, what you can you do, faced with ever-increasing domestic energy bills? Well, you don't need to take these price hikes on the chin, because you always have the option of switching suppliers. Amazingly, millions of households have failed to switch and, as a result, are overpaying for their gas and electricity by hundreds of pounds a year -- year in, year out.

Now for the good news: customers who have never switched energy suppliers could cut their bills by as much as 20%. With the average household bill approaching £1,000 this means you could save around £200 a year by moving to cheaper gas and electricity suppliers.

Happily, The Motley Fool has some good news for you. In partnership with the leading provider of search tools for price-comparison services, we've re-designed and re-launched our Utilities centre. Our new search engine provides accurate, unbiased, up-to-date quotations across all gas and electricity suppliers and all tariffs. Using this comprehensive and independent service, you can find your best deal in minutes -- and you can arrange to switch online, with no rewiring or plumbing required.

When comparing prices, be aware that some of the major suppliers have not yet taken part in the latest round of price increases, namely npower, Powergen, Scottish & Southern and Atlantic. So, although these suppliers are likely to appear cheapest at the moment, the gap could narrow when they declare their intentions.

So, what are you waiting for? Fight back against rising energy prices by trying out our new gas and electricity switching service today. Alternatively, you can keep overpaying for your energy supplies -- the choice is yours!

More: Use the Fool to compare energy prices, insurance and credit cards!