B.B.C. News three o clock consumer groups have criticised the decision by British Gas to raise electricity prices by twelve and a half percent the move next month will affect more than three million customers the firm s parent company Centrica says it s facing increased costs from government policies and for distribution the government expressed concern suggesting that it hasn t ruled out a price cap on energy bills Alex Neil from which magazine urged people affected to switch supplies for the customers of British Gas They won t really care about any of the squabbling about here is to blame for the costs or the price rise at the end of the day these people are now pay another seventy six pounds on top of what is already more than a thousand pounds a year for a bill so they re not really seeing the difference in value that they re getting from British Gas about seventy six pounds part of the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford is to close for up to a year because of fire safety concerns