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SSE's typical monthly gas bills will rise by about £5 a month
Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) is putting up its domestic gas tariffs by 9.4% at the start of December.
The company, one of the UK's biggest energy suppliers, said the rise would affect 3.6 million customers.
The company blamed the increasing wholesale cost of buying gas which it said had gone up by 25% since March this year.
The company said it was sorry that the higher bills would come in during this winter.
</div> "The last few months have been marked by rising wholesale gas prices and, having absorbed losses in our gas supply business for some time, we can not delay an increase in retail prices any longer," said Alistair Phillips-Davies, of SSE.
"I am sorry it will take effect during the winter period."
Those affected include 380,000 customers in Scotland and 440,000 customers in Wales.
The company said that people were being more careful with their energy consumption, so it calculated the price rise would be £4.64 a month for the typical customer, or £56 a year.
However, taking regulator Ofgem's standard consumption measure, the effect would be a £5.60 a month rise, or £67 a year.
This is the first time for two years that standard prices among the "big six" energy suppliers have risen, and follows some price falls during last year.
After 1 December, SSE customers with a dual-fuel tariff would still be paying bills that were £33 cheaper than when prices were at their peak in January 2009, said Ann Robinson, of Uswitch, but she said the timing was a concern for customers.
"With winter about to kick in, this is a body blow for consumers. What nobody wants to see is a repeat of 2008, when suppliers last put prices up and bills rocketed by £381 or 42% as a result," she said.
There could be more bills rises to come.
Earlier this month, Ofgem said that gas and electricity bills would both have to rise by £3 a year, as £32bn was needed to improve the UK's distribution infrastructure.
Ofgem said energy firms needed to spend that sum over the next 10 years to "keep the lights on" and meet the government's green energy targets.
This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
SSE's typical monthly gas bills will rise by about £5 a month Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) is putting up its domestic gas tariffs by 9.4% at the start of December.
The company, one of the UK's biggest energy suppliers, said the rise would affect 3.6 million customers.
The company blamed the increasing wholesale cost of buying gas which it said had gone up by 25% since March this year.
The company said it was sorry that the higher bills would come in during this winter.
</div> "The last few months have been marked by rising wholesale gas prices and, having absorbed losses in our gas supply business for some time, we can not delay an increase in retail prices any longer," said Alistair Phillips-Davies, of SSE.
"I am sorry it will take effect during the winter period."
Those affected include 380,000 customers in Scotland and 440,000 customers in Wales.
The company said that people were being more careful with their energy consumption, so it calculated the price rise would be £4.64 a month for the typical customer, or £56 a year.
However, taking regulator Ofgem's standard consumption measure, the effect would be a £5.60 a month rise, or £67 a year.
This is the first time for two years that standard prices among the "big six" energy suppliers have risen, and follows some price falls during last year.
After 1 December, SSE customers with a dual-fuel tariff would still be paying bills that were £33 cheaper than when prices were at their peak in January 2009, said Ann Robinson, of Uswitch, but she said the timing was a concern for customers.
"With winter about to kick in, this is a body blow for consumers. What nobody wants to see is a repeat of 2008, when suppliers last put prices up and bills rocketed by £381 or 42% as a result," she said.
There could be more bills rises to come.
Earlier this month, Ofgem said that gas and electricity bills would both have to rise by £3 a year, as £32bn was needed to improve the UK's distribution infrastructure.
Ofgem said energy firms needed to spend that sum over the next 10 years to "keep the lights on" and meet the government's green energy targets.
This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.