London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

Energy bills could rise by hundreds of pounds

Energy bills could rise by hundreds of pounds

Energy bills could rise by hundreds of pounds next year, analysts have warned.

Consumers should be prepared for further volatile gas prices and more suppliers collapsing, analysts from Cornwall Insight said.

The firm predicted that the energy price cap will soar by £400 in the spring.

Energy regulator Ofgem said the price cap "will ensure that consumers don't pay more than is absolutely necessary this winter".

But if gas prices stay high, the price cap will rise, Ofgem said.

Cornwall Insight forecasts that the energy price cap will rise to around £1,660 by next summer.

That's around 30% higher than the record £1,277 level for the cap set for winter 2021-22, which began at the start of October.

"With wholesale gas and electricity prices continuing to reach new records, successive supplier exits during September 2021 and a new level for the default tariff cap, the Great British energy market remains on edge for fresh volatility and further consolidation," said Craig Lowrey, senior consultant at Cornwall Insight.

Price hike


The Energy Shop - a price comparison site - warned people to prepare themselves for even greater increases.

It said that the next increase in the price cap, due to come in from 1 April 2022, could be £500 or even higher.

Founder Joe Malinowski warned: "While this month's energy price increase will blow an unwelcome hole in many people's finances. it is nothing compared to what is coming next."

"If things don't settle down soon, increases of £600, £700 or even £800 cannot be ruled out," he added.


Firms fail


Nine suppliers have already collapsed in recent weeks and more could be facing the same fate.

They were unable to keep their price promises as the wholesale price of gas soared.

Their customers have already seen annual bill increases of hundreds of pounds when they moved to a new provider and away from whichever low-rate fixed deal their supplier had offered.

Some of the heat was drawn from the crisis on Wednesday when Russia said it would increase gas supplies to Europe.

UK wholesale gas prices hit a record high during the day before falling after the Russian intervention.

But price volatility could continue as investors remain nervous about low stockpiles of gas across Europe.

That leaves consumers facing the double whammy of rising wholesale prices and reduced competition because of collapsing suppliers.

"The explosion of choice and innovation seen in the sector in the last decade by challenger suppliers has been fundamentally altered in a matter of months, and while all eyes will inevitably be on this winter, there's a need for an enduring solution to ensure that the gains experienced by almost three decades of competition are not lost," said Mr Lowrey.

Cap changes


The energy price cap sets the maximum price suppliers in England, Wales and Scotland can charge customers on a standard - or default - tariff.

That includes the fixed daily amount customers pay, plus the price per unit they pay for electricity and gas.

The cap was increased on 1 October, with about 15 million households facing a 12% rise in energy bills, the biggest jump, to the highest amount, seen since the backstop was introduced in January 2019.

Those on standard tariffs, with typical household levels of energy use, saw an increase of £139 - from £1,138 to £1,277 a year.

Households with larger than average energy use have faced rises of more than £1,277 a year.

Prepayment meter customers with average energy use saw a £153 increase.

That's a far cry from a year previously when on 1 October 2020, the energy price cap was cut by £84, to £1,042.

Future rises?


Ofgem said that if current wholesale prices stay high, the price cap would rise.

The regulator said its "number one priority is to protect customers".

"We know this is a worrying time for many people," Ofgem said.

"The energy price cap covers around 15 million households and will ensure that consumers don't pay more than is absolutely necessary this winter.

"However if global gas prices remain high, then when we update the price cap unfortunately the level would increase.

"Any customer worried about paying their energy bill should contact their supplier to access the range of support available."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×