OFGEM’S lower price cap will amount to little for families struggling with the cost-of-living crisis, campaigners have warned after the regulator said household energy bills will drop by 7 per cent in July.
In response to wholesale prices, the regulator today announced it is dropping its price cap from the current £1,690 for a typical dual fuel household in England, Scotland and Wales to £1,568, a drop of £122 over a year.
This is about £500 less than the cap in July last year when it was £2,074, but still 50 per cent higher than the amounts families were paying three years ago.
Ofgem chief executive Jonathan Brearley told the energy security and net zero committee on Wednesday that prices “are still significantly higher than they were before, and when we look further out our best estimate is that prices are going to stay high and volatile over time.”
Responding to the drop in the price cap, Citizens Advice chief executive Dame Clare Moriarty called for better-targeted energy bill support “for those really struggling to keep the lights on or cook a hot meal.”
GMB national secretary Andy Prendergast called for a comprehensive energy plan to prevent energy price shocks in the future.
He said: “Any reduction in the price cap is likely to provide some relief for households.
“But people across the UK are still struggling with historically high bills as a direct result of failed energy policies.”
End Fuel Poverty Coalition co-ordinator Simon Francis said: “Customers are £2,500 out of pocket because of Britain’s broken energy system, people are turning to loan sharks to pay their energy bills, millions of people are living in cold, damp homes and many are experiencing a mental health crisis driven by high bills.”
Warm This Winter campaign spokesperson Fiona Waters said billpayers “are simply fed up with being ripped off and used as cash machines by the energy industry that week after week announces billions in profits.”
Shadow energy secretary Ed Miliband MP said: “Only Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives could look at energy bills still being hundreds of pounds a year higher for families and call it good news.
“This government is totally out of touch with the cost-of-living crisis families face.”
Ofgem is currently reviewing the price cap, looking at changes to standing charges.
