Experts have warned that one in four homes will fall into fuel poverty by October.
April 1 was dubbed as 'Bleak Friday' after Ofgem raised the energy price cap by 54 per cent which will send household bills soaring.
Charities are warning that 2.5 million more homes across the UK are set to fall into "fuel stress" with thousands predicted to be unable to pay for their energy.
READ MORE- SSE, British Gas, EDF customers unable to submit meter readings as energy supplier websites crash
As Chronicle Live reports, the Resolution Foundation think tank said the number of households in fuel stress is likely to have doubled overnight from 2.5 to five million. "Fuel stress" is defined as families spending more 10 per cent or more of their income on energy.
The think tank's senior economist Jonathan Marshall said: "Today’s energy price cap rise will see the number of households experiencing fuel stress double to five million. Another increase in energy bills this autumn hastens the need for more immediate support, as well as a clear, long-term strategy for improving home insulation, ramping up renewable and nuclear electricity generation, and reforming energy markets so that families’ energy bills are less dependent on global gas prices."
Even with the support the Government has already announced, Citizen's advice have also said that around five million people would be unable to pay their energy bills from April. The UK Government have announced an energy rebate, deducting £200 off the yearly bill - but it will be then paid back over five years from April 2023.
However, experts predict that the price cap is going to rise again October and the charity warns that almost one in four people in the UK - that's more that 14 million - will find themselves in fuel poverty come autumn.
On March 31, hundreds of people scrambled to submit their meter readings but this led to a spike in online traffic and websites including British Gas, Octopus Energy, EDF and E.ON crashed.
Energy UK, the trade body for the industry, urged people not to worry if they were unable to submit a meter reading ahead of Friday. It said: "Most suppliers are offering alternative options such as submitting at a later date, and different methods to send meter readings such as text, social media and email.
"This demonstrates the scale of the problem and how worried people are about high prices, which is why we have been asking Government to intervene to provide further support to consumers."
Citizens Advice chief executive Dame Clare Moriarty said: “The energy price cap rise will be potentially ruinous for millions of people across the country. The support announced so far from the Government simply isn’t enough for those who’ll be hit hardest. With the long-anticipated price rises now hitting, many more people will face the kind of heart-rending choices that our frontline advisers already see all too often.”
Chief Executive of energy firm Utilita, Bill Bullen told the BBC's Today Programme that there needed to be "a real focus" on helping the most vulnerable and said there was "no doubt" the energy price crisis could lead harm for groups like the elderly.
He added: "There is one thing that everybody can do that is to think about their energy consumption and think about their behaviours and if you can afford to invest in your home then do that too. Energy price rises are going to hit everybody, it's going to cause everybody to have to make some different decisions but some consumers are in a far worse situation and it's going to be them we need a real focus on."
Mr Bullen admitted that the picture wasn't likely to improve later in the year, adding: "I don't really see a scenario in which wholesale prices are going to fall back significantly which is what would need to happen, and that'll add an extra £5-600 to bills in October - and frankly I think the chancellor's going to have to fund that entirely for low income households."
