This story was posted on : 06/01/2008

"Todays decision was not an easy one" said Giuseppe Di Vita, managing director of Npower's residential business in an interview with the BBC.

Try struggling to meet everyday expenses and then be landed with even bigger bills at the most expensive time of year.

Npowers' announcement and the expected raft of other energy suppliers to follow suit is not welcome news at any time, but when people are generally reducing spend to cope with higher living costs this is yet another bitter blow.

The price rises have been widely condemed by groups such as the energy poverty group National Energy Action (NEA)  and independent consumer watchdog Energywatch, but it is unlikely that this will worry the energy firms.

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 BBC News item