The boss of British Gas has promised the company will give 10% of its profits to cash-strapped households. It is the first energy firm to dip into its own pockets to help people as the cost-of-living crisis intensifies ahead of the autumn and winter months.
Chris O'Shea, chief executive of Centrica, which owns British Gas, committed to donating £12million of British Gas profits this autumn and a further 10% every six months for the duration of the energy crisis. It could see £60million go towards helping the energy giant's poorest customers.
Grants of between £250 and £750 will be targeted to tens of thousands of customers British Gas has identified will be in financial distress as a result of rising energy prices, reports the Mirror. Mr O'Shea told The Sun: "We don't have a silver bullet and we know this fund can’t reach everyone.
"But I believe it can help make a real difference for those who really need our support." It comes as households on pre-payment meters are seeing up to 90% of their gas top-ups going on repaying debt as they head into the winter months, statistics show.
Almost 300,000 households had their gas and electricity pre-payment meters set to recover debt when they top up in the first quarter of this year, according to Ofgem figures obtained via a Freedom of Information request. The data collected by debt help website DebtBuffer.com shows that there has been a 43% jump in gas pre-payment customers having their meters set to repay debts over the two years to the first quarter of this year, while there has been a 30% increase in electricity prepayment customers repaying debt over the same period.
The average household could be paying £6,500 a year for energy from April, experts predict. The latest forecasts from consultancy Auxilione are for yearly energy bills to rise to £3,576 from October 1, £5,066 in January 2023 and £6,552 from April 2023.
The figures are the highest predictions yet for energy bills already causing pain for millions of homeowners. Auxilione previously said Ofgem could set its price cap at £5,038 per year in October, £4,467 in January 2023 and £6,089 in April 2023.
But the consultancy now says energy bills could spike further than expected due to rising natural gas prices. Regulator Ofgem will announce the price cap for October on Friday.
