Have British Gas energy prices risen in 2024?

To date in 2024, British Gas’s energy prices have risen once in line with the energy price cap.

Like most energy suppliers in the UK, British Gas standard variable tariffs have been subject to Ofgem’s energy price cap since its introduction at the beginning of 2019. This cap sets the maximum price suppliers can charge for their standard variable tariffs, which are typically the most expensive tariffs on offer. It does this by monitoring wholesale energy prices, which dictate the cost for suppliers to buy energy, and caps the amount they can then charge for it via unit rates. Fixed deals have historically been cheaper than standard variable tariffs, so most customers have regularly switched and fixed. British Gas has tended to price its standard variable tariff at around the level of the price cap since its introduction.

For most of the cap’s lifetime, its level didn’t change significantly in either direction as wholesale energy prices remained fairly stable. However, in the autumn of 2021, prices rocketed, and ultimately so did the level of the price cap.

Over time, customers’ fixed deals ended but because suppliers weren’t offering new fixes to switch to, they were rolling on to the standard variable tariff, which was becoming prohibitively expensive. The government therefore introduced the Energy Price Guarantee, which effectively worked as a proxy price cap set at £2,500 per year for average use households paying by direct debit. However, when the price cap lowered to £2,074, it began to set the unit rates of standard variable tariffs again. After dropping to £1,834, it is currently set at £1,928 until 31 March 2024.