British Gas has announced increases to the gas and electricity prices it charges customers.
It has raised its charges for both types of fuel by about 6%, adding £80 a year to the average dual fuel bill.
Britain's biggest energy supplier said the "unwelcome" increase would come into effect on 16 November.
Its rival SSE, which trades as Scottish Hydro, Swalec and Southern Electric, has already said it will raise its prices by an average of 9% from Monday.
"We know that household budgets are under pressure and this £1.50 per week rise will be unwelcome," said managing director Phil Bentley.
"However, we simply cannot ignore the rising costs that are largely outside our control, but which make up most of the bill."
Rising costsWith the average dual fuel bill now more than £1,300, Age UK said many older people were feeling "extremely anxious" about their heating bills.
What makes up the cost of the average household energy bill:
| Gas | Electricity | |
|---|---|---|
| Source: British Gas | ||
| Wholesale cost | 52% | 41% |
| Delivery to home | 22% | 24% |
| Government charges | 11% | 20% |
| Operating costs | 9% | 11% |
| Profit | 6% | 4% |
"Cold homes pose a serious risk to the health of older people, yet huge numbers of older people cannot afford to heat their homes properly," said Michelle Mitchell, director general of Age UK.
British Gas last raised its tariffs in August 2011, when gas prices went up by 18% and electricity prices by 16%.
Then in January 2012, it cut its electricity prices by 5%.
The company first flagged up the latest round of price rises in May this year, when it warned that the gas prices it must pay were likely to rise this winter. On top of that, the company faced a bigger bill from the government.
The British Gas boss repeated these explanations when announcing the price rises, claiming that 85% of the price it charges customers is outside its control.
"Britain's North Sea gas supplies are running out and British Gas has to pay the going rate for gas in a competitive global marketplace," said Mr Bentley.
"Furthermore, the investment needed to maintain and upgrade the national grid to deliver energy to our customers' homes, and the costs of the government's policies for a clean, energy-efficient Britain, are all going up."
It said that winter wholesale prices were proving to be some 13% higher this year.
The cost of government policies and the national grid upgrade added £50 to the average household bill this year, and £60 next year, British Gas added.
InsulationBritish Gas also took the opportunity to highlight its offer to help households improve fuel efficiency by giving them free loft and wall cavity insulation, which it said could save the average household £100 per year on their bill.
The company extended its offer of free insulation to non-customers earlier this year.
All the energy utility firms are obliged under the government's "Certified Emissions Reduction Target" (or "Cert") programme to cut the carbon dioxide output by households.
Failure to hit the target each year could result in penalties from the energy regulator Ofgem, so most utilities are offering some form of help with insulation as a way of reducing the amount of gas that households burn.
British Gas claimed that customers that had already implemented energy saving measures had seen their fuel consumption drop by up to 40%, and as a result the average total fuel bills of its customers had not risen faster than inflation, despite the increases in fuel charge rates.
Age UK is calling on the government to invest more in improving the energy efficiency of older people's homes.
Under the government's Warm Home Discount Scheme, energy suppliers agreed to give discounts on energy bills to older households who receive certain benefits.
When it was launched last year, the government said it expected the four-year scheme to be worth £1.1bn and to help two million low-income households with their energy bills.
Energy price changes since Nov 2010 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scottish Power | SSE | British Gas | Npower | E.On | EDF | |
| G=Gas. E=Electricity. | ||||||
| Nov 2010 | G:2% E:8.9% | |||||
| Dec | G:9.4% | G:7% E:7% | ||||
| Jan 2011 | G: 5.1% E: 5.1% | |||||
| Feb | G:3% E:9% | |||||
| Mar | G:6.5% E:7.5% | |||||
| Aug | G:19% E:10% | G:18% E:16% | ||||
| Sept | G:18% E:11% | G:18% E:11% | ||||
| Oct | G:15.7% E:7.2% | |||||
| Nov | G:15.4% E:4.5% | |||||
| Jan 2012 | E: -5% | |||||
| Feb | G: -5% | G: -5% | E: -6% | G: -5% | ||
| Mar | G: -4.5% | |||||
| Oct | G: 9% E:9% | |||||
| Nov | G:6% E:6% | |||||
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