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| British Gas owner Centrica loses another 110,000 accounts | British Gas owner Centrica loses another 110,000 accounts |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| British Gas owner Centrica lost 110,000 energy supply accounts in the first four months of the year. | British Gas owner Centrica lost 110,000 energy supply accounts in the first four months of the year. |
| That is roughly equivalent to 70,000 customers as many households buy their gas and electricity from British Gas, so will have two accounts. | That is roughly equivalent to 70,000 customers as many households buy their gas and electricity from British Gas, so will have two accounts. |
| Last year, the company lost 1.3 million energy accounts. | Last year, the company lost 1.3 million energy accounts. |
| Centrica said there had been "high levels of competitive intensity", but said the rate at which it has been losing customers had been slowing. | Centrica said there had been "high levels of competitive intensity", but said the rate at which it has been losing customers had been slowing. |
| The company has almost 13 million energy supply accounts in the UK. | |
| In April, British Gas announced a 5.5% increase in both gas and electricity bills, which comes into effect at the end of the this month. | |
| It blamed the rising wholesale cost of energy and the cost of meeting emissions targets and introducing smart meters. | |
| Energy switching | |
| Other big energy firms have also announced price increases this year, including Npower, EDF and Scottish Power. | |
| Rising energy prices have spurred record numbers of customers to switch suppliers. | |
| In the first three months of the year, 1.3 million customers switched energy supplier - a record quarter, according to Energy UK. | |
| In February, Centrica announced 4,000 job cuts, blaming intense competition and the introduction of an energy price cap. | |
| About 12 million households are on some form of uncapped default tariff, which can cost hundreds of pounds a year more than the cheapest deals. | |
| The government wants to cap those tariffs and legislation to do that is currently working its way through Parliament. |