Energy bills forecast to hit £1,999 in January, biggest rise in four years
Cornwall Insight forecasts the typical annual energy bill will rise to £1,999 from January, a 16% jump and the biggest increase in four years.
Households face the biggest rise in energy bills for four years, with the typical annual gas and electricity bill forecast to jump to £1,999 from January, the BBC reported on Tuesday.
Consultancy Cornwall Insight’s latest forecast suggests a £276, or 16%, increase in January, hitting millions of households at the coldest time of year. Cornwall Insight has a strong track record on forecasts and is widely respected across the industry and politics; similar forecasts have been made by energy suppliers.
The predicted rise is the result of disruption of gas supplies owing to the conflict in the Middle East, and the resulting low gas storage levels in Europe, Cornwall Insight principal consultant Craig Lowrey said. Rebuilding those stocks could mean high bills “well beyond the winter”. Lowrey said a January rise was “all but certain”, with the January price-setting period already halfway through.
It follows a 4% rise in October, taking the typical bill to £1,723 a year. About 20 million households in England, Scotland and Wales are on variable tariffs set by Ofgem’s price cap. Ofgem will not announce the actual January change until late November, so the figure remains only a prediction.
EDF boss Simone Rossi said the country is “walking into a second significant energy crisis after the one we experienced just four years ago”, while fuel-poverty charity National Energy Action urged Budget support. Ofgem data shows customers collectively owe more than £5bn in unpaid bills.
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