Rising Energy Costs

Back in April I put an entry on called 'Two Nice Surprises'. Surprise Number Two was that we had overpaid our energy bills and they refunded us and reduced our monthly payment. I have read today that Scottish Power , our supplier, is raising energy costs again by 19% for gas and 10% for electricity. They estimate that the average family's bills will go up by around £200 per year. In February they wrote to me informing of a raise and that it was applied as from November 2010, ie three months earlier. That meant they had nicely covered the cold weather spell in December when everyone had the central heating on. It doesn't mention in the article when the raise is effective from but never the less we can exercise caution straight away. I wonder how much more expensive it will get in the coming months and years. The small changes we make to our everyday life could help us cut costs and avoid waste. My payments had gone down from £99 to £78 per month, I had planned to save the extra £21 but I will no doubt have my direct debit increased at some point in the forthcoming months. At least I have a small buffer to fall back on, if it goes much higher then it would be worrying. I think I will be permanently wrapped in my slanket come winter time. I am going to start to look round to see if there are any cheaper suppliers.