Energy bills could hit £6,000 a year from April, one consultancy firm has warned. This Friday (August 26) we will find out the results of the latest review of the energy price cap.
The price cap limits the rates a supplier can charge for their default tariffs. Currently, it will rise to £3,576 in October and £4,799 in January. Energy consultancy Auxilione said the energy price cap would hit £6,089 in April. Auxilione said the energy prices would not fall until next July when the cap would drop to £5,486. The cap is currently £1,971, according to reports in The Sunday Telegraph.
Meanwhile, the Financial Times has reported that the figure in April could be slightly less, £5,816 in April, compared with the current level of £1,971 a year. It also says investment bank Citi has forecast inflation could hit 18.6% due to soaring wholesale gas prices.
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UK and European wholesale natural gas prices are already trading at close to 10 times normal levels and other forecasters have also raised their inflation predictions.
So far, the UK Government has committed to a £400 bill discount in October for 28 million households. Conservative leadership hopefuls Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss have accepted the Government must do more to assist billpayers, with more than half expected to fall into energy poverty. Both contenders have rejected calls from Labour for ministers to freeze the energy price cap, preventing bills from rising.
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