Gas prices frozen for rest of year

FRANCE'S biggest gas supplier, GDF-Suez, has agreed not to raise prices for the rest of the year.

Gas bills have soared by almost 15 per cent since the new year, up 10 per cent in April and 4.7 per cent in July.

Finance minister Christine Lagarde had asked GDF to give customers a break from further price rises over the winter

The firm, which supplies gas to 10.8 million homes, has now confirmed it will not ask the Energy Regulation Commission for a price rise when the tariffs are next revised on October 1.

Instead, it has proposed a new way of setting tariffs from 2011, which it said it would more accurately reflect the cost of production and supply

The new formula would be based on the long-term cost of natural gas, and should mean customers will avoid sudden price rises.

About 90 per cent of domestic gas customers in France benefit from regulated tariffs, which can only be revised every three months, with approval from the energy regulator.

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