ENERGY bills are set to rise by 10 per cent this autumn, the watchdog confirmed today, while greedy energy companies continue to rake in obscene profits.
Ofgem announced that it will hike its price cap from £1,568 to £1,717 from October 1.
The increase will plunge 400,000 more households into fuel poverty, bringing the total to six million, charity National Energy Action warned.
Ofgem boss Jonathan Brearley, who reportedly earns over £300,000 a year, was asked about the reasoning behind the rise on BBC Breakfast.
He said: “The main reason is that the price cap is designed in a way that energy companies can recover fair costs and a small profit, but no more than that.”
According to research by End Fuel Poverty Coalition, energy giants have reaped profits of £470 billion since 2020.
British Gas alone announced that its profits had increased tenfold to £750m in 2023.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said energy companies would continue to “rake in obscene profits” while working people struggle and pensioners “shiver without their fuel allowance.”
“These are the wrong choices when there is an overwhelming case for taking energy out of the hands of the profiteers and owning it ourselves.”
Following the announcement, the government has been urged to U-turn on its plans to axe winter fuel payments for 10 million pensioners.
The payment, worth up to £300, was previously available to everyone over state pension age.
But last month, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that it will only be available to those who receive pension credits or other means-tested benefits.
Age UK director Caroline Abrahams said that means-testing the payments was “reckless and wrong,” and “potentially hazardous.”
“There’s scarcely any time to tackle the long-term underclaiming of pension credit — for more than a decade a third of pensioners who are entitled to it have consistently missed out.
“And the million or so older people whose small incomes take them just above the line to claim are horribly exposed — no take-up campaign can help them.”
National Pensioners Convention general secretary Jan Shortt blasted the decision to axe the payments as short-sighted, warning that it “risks lives and will cost more than is saved.”
She said: “For some, it will be a choice of reducing their care packages or stopping them altogether with all the consequences that brings.
“Ending broadband packages then isolates the individual and makes everyday life difficult
“Cold, damp homes kill and we will inevitably see an increased burden on the NHS and care services and many older people will not see the spring.”
End Fuel Poverty Coalition co-ordinator Simon Francis said: “With energy bills for the winter ahead now confirmed as being 65 per cent above where they were before the crisis, the government needs to come up with a plan to prevent even more households entering fuel poverty this winter.
“Ending energy debt, extending the Household Support Fund, expanding Warm Home Discounts and evolving standing charges would all help mitigate the impact of high bills and the axe to the Winter Fuel Payment.
“But as well as support this winter, the public need to see a clear timetable for when the very real benefits of cheaper renewable energy and the Warm Homes Plan will kick in.”
