HOUSEHOLDS have been warned they could face an annual energy bill in excess of £3,600 this winter.
Gas and electricity bill in could reach £3,616 in the new year, according to experts – hundreds of pounds more than previous predictions.
Households have been warned they could face an annual energy bill in excess of £3,600 this winter[/caption]
In May, the Government announced an energy costs support package – worth £400 per household – in response to predictions that bills would rise to £2,800 for the average household in October.
But experts at Cornwall Insight said that bills are now likely to rise to £3,358 from October and £3,615 from January.
Dr Craig Lowrey, Principal Consultant at Cornwall Insight said: “Customers will be sadly used to these ever-increasing price cap forecasts.
“We have less than a month until the new price cap is announced and given the trends in the wholesale market and the concerns over Russian supply, unfortunately the only change to the prediction is likely to be up.”
On Friday, Richard Neudegg, director of regulation at Uswitch, called for the £400 to be increased to at least £600, and for payments to vulnerable households to rise from £650 to £950.
“The Government did the right thing by stepping in with wide-reaching support to try to help ease the blow. However, this support now looks like a severe under-estimation of what consumers need,” he said.
“Households need clarity to help them plan for the most expensive winter in living memory.”
Charity National Energy Action last month predicted that, should the average bill reach £3,250 per year, 8.2 million UK households will be in fuel poverty, or one in three.
More to follow…
Thesun.co.uk is your go to destination for the best celebrity news, football news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures and must-see video.
For the latest news on this story keep checking back at Sun Online.
Download our fantastic, new and improved free App for the best ever Sun Online experience. For iPhone click here, for Android click here.
Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/thesun and follow us from our main Twitter account at @TheSun.