The energy price cap will jump by an eye-watering £700 from this Friday - adding a huge burden to household bills.
Regulator Ofgem has confirmed it is increasing its price cap 54% by £693 from £1,277 to £1,971 from April 1.
For prepayment customers, the price cap is going up by a bigger £708 from £1,309 to £2,017.
It’s understandably a worrying time for families, with many households wondering what they can do to lower their bills.
If you’re not sure what the price cap really is, or how it works, our experts are back for another Cost of Living Facebook Live at 1pm this afternoon to answer all your questions.
Join our Head of Business and Consumer Graham Hiscott and Mirror Money reporter Sam Barker as they talk through everything you need to know about the impending price hike.
We’ll go through all the ways you might be able to lower your bill, whether it is worth fixing into a deal now, and what you need to do before April 1.
Let us know if you have a question by emailing mirror.money.saving@mirror.co.uk or you can drop us a comment during the broadcast.
We'll be live at facebook.com/dailymirror at 1pm today (March 31).
Some 22 million households are on the price cap right now.
It applies all default tariff customers who haven’t switched to a fixed deal and those who remain with their new supplier after their previous supplier exited the market.
The reason for the climbing price of energy is a squeeze on gas prices around the world, caused by the Covid pandemic.
Businesses being shut down led to low global energy consumption, which then followed by a rapid bounceback as the economy began to open up again.
The ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine also pushed up prices last month.
Since the beginning of 2021, around 30 energy companies have gone bust under the weight of the energy crisis, leaving over two million customers moved over to another provider.
We've got a full list of all the energy firms that have gone under here.
Ofgem chief executive Jonathan Brearley said: "We know this rise will be extremely worrying for many people, especially those who are struggling to make ends meet, and Ofgem will ensure energy companies support their customers in any way they can.
"The energy market has faced a huge challenge due to the unprecedented increase in global gas prices - a once in a 30-year event - and Ofgem's role as energy regulator is to ensure that, under the price cap, energy companies can only charge a fair price based on the true cost of supplying electricity and gas.
"Ofgem is working to stabilise the market and over the longer term to diversify our sources of energy which will help protect customers from similar price shocks in the future."
