Good Energy has promised to freeze its gas and electricity prices until at least March 2017.

The independent energy supplier is the first to freeze its prices as wholesale costs rise.

The commitment follows price hikes from independents GB Energy Supply and Ecotricity of an average 30 per cent and 5.7 per cent respectively.

Good Energy managing director David Brooks said: “We’re freezing our gas and electricity price this winter to give our customers peace of mind and no nasty shocks. When it’s colder and darker, most will need to turn the lights and heating on for a bit longer each day.

“Customers won’t thank their supplier for hiking up the price at the time of year when they’ll be using it most.”

More suppliers are expected to hike prices due to rising wholesale and policy costs.

Brooks added: “This year we’ve seen some suppliers tempting customers with what appears to be loss-leading deals. But it’s clearly unsustainable. Wholesale power prices have spiked and, unless they had the ability to forward buy their power in times when it was cheaper; it is inevitable that those loss-leading suppliers will put their prices up.

“As the old saying goes: if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. It’s better to offer customers a fair price and keep it stable.”