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Price watch

Energy price watch: we're changing our prices

by Team Bulb
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An illustration of a tablet showing our blog post and a chart depicting the changes in wholesale energy costs

Unfortunately, the cost to supply energy has continued to rise and we need to increase our prices for Pay Monthly (credit) members. On 21 June our electricity and gas prices are going up, along with our daily standing charge. A typical member will pay £1.33 more for their energy a week.

We're sorry to put prices up for the second time this year, at a time that we know is difficult for lots of our members. At Bulb, we aim to keep prices as low as possible for as long as possible, but we can't offer unsustainable rates. While we hate doing it, if the cost to supply energy goes up, we do need to change our rates to reflect this.

Wholesale costs are up 29% since March

Since our last update, the cost of supplying energy has continued to rise dramatically, driven by higher wholesale energy costs. These costs are now 29% higher than they were in March when we last changed our prices – a significant rise in just two months. These costs have doubled since this point last year.

A chart showing that wholesale costs have increased 29% since our last price change in March
Notes: Wholesale costs make up around 38% of your energy bill. The annual energy bill and wholesale costs shown here are for an Ofgem medium energy user (2,900 kWh electricity, 12,000 kWh gas) on a standard dual-fuel tariff. Source: Bulb data.

What's happening in the wholesale energy market is pushing costs up for all suppliers, not just Bulb. Since the new cap level was introduced in April, fixed deals have been increasing in price. As Martin Lewis put it in his latest MoneySavingExpert 'Money Tips' email, "Wholesale prices - those that energy firms pay for gas and elec - have surged to their highest levels since 2018 due to post-lockdown demand, outages at ageing power plants and low levels of gas in storage. Sadly this has meant the prices of the cheapest fixed tariffs have rocketed".

Our rates are going up on 21 June

We're increasing our electricity and gas rates, along with our daily standing charge for members who pay by Direct Debit. A typical home (as set by Ofgem, the energy regulator) using both electricity and gas will pay £1.33 more for their energy a week (£69 more a year).

We'll be in contact with all our members individually between Thursday 20 May and Friday 21 May to explain what the changes mean for you.

For current Bulb members, all rates will change on Monday 21 June. We don’t do exit fees, so any member who is unhappy with the new rates can leave at any time without penalty.

People who sign up to Bulb from Monday 31 May will be on the new rates once their switch completes. Anyone joining between now and then will be on current rates until Monday 21 June. You can look up the new rates for your area by visiting the tariff page of the Bulb website.