Contact: Anna Cook, Head of Communications and Campaigns, anna.cook@nea.org.uk Mobile: 07884 371913
Price cap to rise in October with ‘people in desperate circumstances’
The energy price cap is expected to rise 2% (around £35 a year for a typical household) from 1 October.
This means the energy bill for a typical household will be £1,755 a year, which is almost £500 higher than it was in October 2021, before the energy crisis.
National Energy Action Energy Adviser Michael Penhaligon says, ‘Every day my colleagues and I speak to people in desperate circumstances. They can’t afford the very basics of heat and power. They are rationing their energy usage and they’re cutting back on food and other essentials. The individuals I speak to are left to rely on foodbanks, fuel vouchers and other charitable grants to help restore them to a basic standard of living. This shouldn’t be happening in the UK in 2025.
‘Some may say that the cap rising around £35 won’t have an impact but the people I speak to already can’t afford their bills and many of them are deep in debt. This can have a huge impact on their mental and physical wellbeing. A rise in bills just as temperatures start to drop will put even more pressure on households.
‘My colleagues and I achieve amazing outcomes for households to help them afford their energy; we get debt written off, we get them access to benefits they are entitled to, and we liaise with their suppliers on their behalf. But the scale and depth of fuel poverty is far beyond the remit of any charity.’
National Energy Action’s asks:
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The expanded Warm Home Discount and Winter Fuel Payment are lifelines for households in fuel poverty. But low-income households need deeper energy bill support from the government to afford their energy bills.
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A help-to-repay scheme would help lift households out of deep debt.
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The government’s Warm Homes Plan needs to provide significant investment in the energy efficiency of the leakiest homes lived in by fuel poor households.
ENDS
Notes to editors
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National Energy Action (NEA), is the national fuel poverty charity, working across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, to improve the lives of people in fuel poverty. We directly support people with energy and income maximisation advice, and we advocate on issues such as the current energy crisis and the need to improve the energy efficiency of our homes. See: www.nea.org.uk.
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Consumer energy debt has reached £4.15 billion, three-quarters of which is arrears with no payment plan https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/data/debt-and-arrears-indicators.
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Ofgem estimates a typical household uses 3,100kWh a year of gas and 12,500kWh of electricity. But if you live in an older property that’s not energy efficient, have a larger than average household or have high energy needs then you will use more than average.
If this goes online, please link to https://www.nea.org.uk/energy-crisis. We are on Twitter/X: @NEA_UKCharity and Bluesky: @nea.org.uk