Today (Friday 24 May), the energy regulator Ofgem announced that the level of the price cap from July to September will fall by £122 to £1,568 per year for a typical household.
While the drop over the summer period will be a relief to many, fuel poverty charity National Energy Action has new figures showing this will leave 5.6 million UK households in fuel poverty from July. This is a fall of 7% compared with now, but remains above pre-energy crisis levels.
National Energy Action Chief Executive Adam Scorer says:
‘Every fall in the price cap is good news. It should make life a little easier for everyone.
‘But for our clients, and for millions of households in fuel poverty, there remains a huge gap between current prices and affordable energy bills.
‘Over 2 million households owe over £3 billion of household energy debt. Millions will still be in negative budgets. Even more will be cut off from basic levels of heat and power.
‘Unfortunately, fuel poor households will not enjoy affordable energy through occasional small changes in the price cap.
‘Whoever wins the next election inherits the responsibility to build fuel poverty out of inefficient homes and build greater protection into the regulation of the energy market.’
Notes for editors
- If this goes online please link to www.nea.org.uk/get help
- A typical household refers to GB households. Northern Ireland is a separate energy market.
- In October 2021 4.5 million UK households were in fuel poverty, with a typical household paying £1,276 a year.
- Currently, 6 million UK households are in fuel poverty.
- The price cap takes effect from 1 July to 30 September