Britain's biggest domestic gas supplier Centrica has announced a 22% hike in prices for both domestic electricity and gas supplies from March this year.
Centrica, owner of British Gas, said the price increases were due to surging wholesale energy costs, while the announcement followed price hikes in recent days by rivals Scottish Power and the British subsidiary of Electricite de France.
'The cost of buying gas for 2006 is now 63% higher than in 2005 and some 202% higher than 2003,' Centrica said in an official statement.
Friday's news came one day after the European Commission presented the findings of an investigation into anti-competitive practices on the European energy market, without citing any specific companies or countries as being guilty of wrongdoing.
