Two of the United Kingdom's biggest energy suppliers in British Gas and E.on have sent customers urgent emails following Jeremy Hunt's decision to scrap Liz Truss's Energy Price Promise last week.
As it stood previously, the former-PM would impose a price cap of £2,500 for the next two years, but Chancellor Hunt revealed that this movement would be reviewed after just six months in April 2023.
This left millions of households across the country left worried about what the future holds, with energy prices rapidly accelerating before the cap was put in place by the Tory Government.
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The Daily Express reports that in turn, many are worried that their energy bills are going to shoot up astronomically in April - particularly after experts warned that without intervention, the average energy bill would reach £6,000 next summer.
In a statement via email, British Gas said that it understands the announcement may cause concern for customers, but commented that they didn't know how bills will be affected as of yet. The also urged customers not to contact BG, who said they will be in touch with 'more information as it happens'.
E.on meanwhile said it was 'in contact with the Government' and advised that customers should avoid contacting them.
Scrapping the Energy Price Guarantee could result in millions more households paying more for their energy bills than expected from next year. It's believed the Government will instead move to more targeted support for the most vulnerable.
While the promise currently caps typical bills to £2,500, people who use more will still pay over that amount. British Gas said: "You may have seen the Government has announced that the Energy Price Guarantee will be reviewed in April 2023, rather than running for two years.
"We know this will cause you a lot of uncertainty - until the Government provide more details, we don’t know what this means for your energy bills from April onwards. There's no need for you to do anything, we'll update you with more information as it happens."
E.on added: "The new Chancellor has announced changes to the Energy Price Guarantee. We're in contact with the government and will update our website when we have the full details, there is no need to contact us."
In his statement, Mr Hunt said: "I want to confirm that the support we are providing until April next year will not change. But beyond that, the Prime Minister and I agreed that it would not be responsible to continue exposing public finance to unlimited volatility in national gas prices."
Mr Hunt announced that the Government will launch a Treasury-led review into how it can support households and businesses with energy bills next year. The objective of this review will be to 'design a new approach' that will cost the taxpayer 'significantly less' than originally planned.
The Chancellor also said in his statement that any support for businesses will be targeted to those "most affected" adding that the new approach will aim to 'better incentivise energy efficiency'.
In his speech, Hunt said: "No Government can control markets but every Government can give certainty about the sustainability of public finances."
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