Martin Lewis says there is an "85% likelihood" that annual energy bills will remain at £2,500 rather than increasing to £3,000 from April. It comes amid reports firms already expect government support to be maintained at or near the current level.
Consumer champion Lewis told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I was saying earlier in the week, reading the runes, it was a better than 50% chance that the price wouldn’t go up.”
He said some energy firms are planning to keep April’s rates at current levels, suggesting energy help will continue. “I’m hearing they have not been told that the rate is staying,” he said.
”They have been told that there is an attempt to keep the rate at £2,500. So we’re not at the smoking gun stage that this is definitely happening, but I would say we’re at an 85% likelihood that the price won’t be going up.”
He added: “If there’s no U-turn, you’ll pay 20% more than you do now. If there is a U-turn, you’ll pay exactly the same as you do now.”
According to the BBC, experts have suggested it is increasingly likely Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will change course, probably at the Budget on March 15. The energy price guarantee (EPG), the taxpayer-funded cap on bills, rises from £2,500 a year for the typical property to £3,000 in April.
Energy Secretary Grant Shapps previously said he was “very sympathetic” to calls to protect households from the increase while Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised “we’re going to keep on supporting people”.
When the upcoming end of the £400 energy rebate scheme – paid in six instalments of £66 and £67 a month – is factored in, the energy cost for households will increase even more. But energy prices are falling faster than had been feared.
