THE average household has spent £2,300 more on energy bills since April 2021 than they would have done had prices remained stable, an analysis has found ahead of tomorrow’s Ofgem price cap.
The figure, calculated by the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, considers the government support schemes that were set up to help households.
It means that, across the whole country, the additional spending by households on energy over the last three years could total more than £68 billion.
Ofgem is expected to lower the price cap for domestic energy bills tomorrow by around £293 a year, making it the lowest level in more than two years.
But estimates suggest that the new cap level will mean gas and electricity costs remain 50 per cent, or £600 a year, higher than in 2021 when the energy bills crisis began.
Meanwhile, households are still struggling with record levels of debt, with over three million households owing money to their energy firm.
Coalition co-ordinator Simon Francis said: “Three years of staggering energy bills have placed an unbearable strain on household finances up and down the country.
“Household energy debt is at record levels, millions of people are living in cold damp homes and children are suffering in mouldy conditions.
“Everybody can see what is happening in Britain’s broken energy system and it is time for politicians to unite to enact the measures needed to end fuel poverty.
“This includes cross-party consensus on a long-term plan to help all households upgrade their homes and short-term financial support households most in need.”
Warm This Winter campaign spokeswoman Fiona Waters said: “What politicians should be focussed on is bringing down energy bills through a proper programme of insulating homes and investing in cheap and abundantly available renewable energy.”