SSE has announced it is to increase its standard electricity prices. The price rise will come into effect on 28 April, 2017.

In a statement, the company said average electricity prices would rise by 14.9% for around 2.8 million customers. However, its gas prices will remain at their current levels.

As a result, a typical dual fuel customer will now see their annual bill rise by 6.9%, or £73.

SSE has said the price change reflects an increasing cost of supplying electricity, specifically higher costs associated with delivering government programmes designed to upgrade Britain's aging energy infrastructure and help the country move towards a low carbon future.

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It is the company's first price hike in three-and-a-half years, it added.

Will Morris, Managing Director for Retail, SSE, said: "We deeply regret having to raise electricity prices. This is the first increase since 2013 and we've worked hard to keep them down for as long as possible by cutting our own costs, putting in place a winter price freeze and holding gas prices, but we have seen significant increases in electricity costs which are outside our control. Without an increase we would have been supplying electricity to domestic customers at a loss."

(JP/CD)