UK households are set to see their energy bills rise by hundreds of pounds next year, analysts have said.
Research agency Cornwall Insight has predicted that the energy price cap will soar by £400 in the spring.
The firm said that a further rise in gas prices and the potential collapse of more suppliers could push the energy price cap to about £1,660 in summer.
This forecast is approximately 30% higher than the £1,277 price cap set for winter 2021-22, which began at the start of October.
Craig Lowrey, senior consultant at Cornwall Insight, said: “With wholesale gas and electricity prices continuing to reach new records, successive supplier exits during September 2021 and a new level for the default tariff cap (£1,277 for a typical dual fuel direct debit customer) for Winter 2021-22, the GB energy market remains on edge for fresh volatility and further consolidation.”
Ofgem issue statement over energy bill rise
In a statement to the BBC, energy regulator Ofgem - which reviews the price cap once every six months and changes it based on the cost that suppliers have to pay for their energy, cost of policies and operating costs - said it was a “worrying time for many people”.
The regulator added: “The energy price cap covers around 15 million households and will ensure that consumers don’t pay more than is absolutely necessary this winter.
“However if global gas prices remain high, then when we update the price cap unfortunately the level would increase.
“Any customer worried about paying their energy bill should contact their supplier to access the range of support available.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here