Can ‘social tariffs’ solve the UK’s looming fuel poverty cataclysm?

By next January, it is feared a monthly household energy bill could be as high as £500. Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA

As thoughts turn to the colder months ahead, households already grappling with the cost of living crisis have been warned to brace themselves for punishing energy bills.

The price cap – set by energy regulator Ofgem – has already jumped by £693 this year, rising to £1,971 for the average dual fuel tariff from April. But things are about to get a lot worse.