UK home energy bills set to leap in October and January

Annual UK energy bills have been forecast to hit £3,729 ($4,535) from next April, with volatility in the global gas and electricity market triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine pushing prices to record highs.

British energy regulator Ofgem has confirmed that the energy price cap will be updated quarterly, rather than every six months, as it warned that customers face a “very challenging winter ahead”. Higher prices are expected to go into two-phase set of increases this winter in October and then in January as the cap is adjusted every three months.

It said the change would go “some way to provide the stability needed in the energy market” and that it “isn't anyone’s interests for more suppliers to fail and exit the market.”

With the UK battling a mounting cost of living crisis, changes to the price cap come as household energy bills are likely to remain at more than two-and-a-half times their pre-crisis levels until at least 2024, according to the latest predictions.

Ofgem said paying a rate that is up to six months out of date in the current volatile market was no longer sustainable and could mean either consumers paying too much for months if wholesale prices dropped or suppliers left unable to supply gas if global prices have risen.

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