The average household has spent £2,300 more on energy bills since April 2021 than they would have done had prices remained stable. [1]
The data takes into account the Government support schemes that were set up to help households and means that, across the whole country, the additional spend by households on energy over the last three years totals more than £68bn.
The new figures calculated by the End Fuel Poverty Coalition come as Ofgem has lowered the price cap by around 12% for domestic energy bills.
However, the new cap level means that gas and electricity costs remain 60% higher than in 2021 when the energy bills crisis began. [2]
Meanwhile, households are still struggling in record levels of debt, with over 3 million households owing money to their energy firm.
New research by YouGov for the Stop The Squeeze campaign found that 61% of respondents – including 70% of Conservative voters – chose energy bill support as one of the interventions they would most like to see. [3]
Energy bill support was found to be more than twice as popular as cuts to taxes on wages (29%) and has gained in popularity among voters since the last time the research was conducted in July 2023.
However, the Government is set to end both the Energy Price Guarantee and the Household Support Fund on 31 March 2024.
The Energy Price Guarantee currently protects households from fluctuating global energy markets and could also be used to introduce an Emergency Energy Tariff to help those struggling the most with the high cost of energy.
The Household Support Fund provides local authorities with additional resources to help communities most hit by high energy bills, with 26 million grants given by councils to households struggling to afford the essentials. The End Fuel Poverty Coalition was recently among 120 organisations that signed a letter to the Chancellor calling for the Fund to be extended by at least another year.
Simon Francis, coordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, commented:
“Even after this latest change to the price cap, energy prices remain 60% higher than they were before the energy bills crisis began.
“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 for households most in need.”
Megan Davies from Stop the Squeeze said:
“The fact that the public appetite for energy bill support is rising, not falling, should be a wake up call to the government that the cost of living crisis is far from over.
“Any fall in the price cap is of course welcome, but it is no substitute for the structural reform to the energy market that is needed to guarantee more affordable clean power into the future.
“This Budget could be the government’s last opportunity before the election to listen to the public and show they are serious about taking action on energy bills.”
Warm This Winter campaign spokesperson Fiona Waters commented:
“It’s clear Britain’s energy system is broken with a few firms making obscene profits while ordinary people suffer and household energy debt at record levels. What’s worse, millions, including the elderly and children, are living in unhealthy cold damp mouldy homes.
“People are tired of this constant cycle and want action. 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.”
ENDS
[1] £2,300 and £68bn figures calculated as below. Price cap at 30 March 2021 was £1,042 for the average household. All figures based on Ofgem data. Average household energy bill levels include the relevant Energy Price Guarantee and Energy Bills Support Scheme payments where appropriate (the £52bn net cost of those measures are also borne by the taxpayer). Cap data is based on the prevailing typical domestic consumption values at the time – as set by Ofgem.
| Cap change date | Average household energy bill (GBP) | Amount above GBP1,042 per household weighted for the number of months in price cap period (e.g. annual amount above cap halved for periods starting 1-Apr-21, but then quartered for periods from 1-Apr-23) | All households |
| 01-Oct-20 | £ 1,042 | Baseline | |
| 01-Apr-21 | £ 1,138 | £ 48 | |
| 01-Oct-21 | £ 1,277 | £ 118 | |
| 01-Apr-22 | £ 1,971 | £ 465 | |
| 01-Oct-22 | £ 2,100 | £ 529 | |
| 01-Apr-23 | £ 2,500 | £ 365 | |
| 01-Jul-23 | £ 2,074 | £ 258 | |
| 01-Oct-23 | £ 1,834 | £ 198 | |
| 01-Jan-24 | £ 1,928 | £ 222 | |
| 01-Apr-24 | £ 1,690 | £ 162 | |
| TOTAL | £ 2,363 | £ 68,527,000,000 |
[2] End Fuel Poverty Coalition records based on Ofgem price cap announcements and (in italics) Cornwall Insight predictions (last checked 16 Feb 2024)
| Cap change date | Increase (GBP) | Average household energy bill (GBP) | % increase from last period | YOY change | Change from Pre-Energy Bill Crisis | Change from Pre-Ukraine Invasion |
| Pre-cap | 1067 | |||||
| 01-Oct-17 | -19 | 1048 | -1.78 | |||
| 01-Apr-18 | 41 | 1089 | 3.91 | |||
| 01-Oct-18 | 47 | 1136 | 4.31 | 8.40% | ||
| 01-Apr-19 | 117 | 1254 | 10.39 | |||
| 01-Oct-19 | -75 | 1179 | -5.98 | 3.79% | ||
| 01-Apr-20 | -17 | 1162 | -1.44% | |||
| 01-Oct-20 | -120 | 1042 | -10.33% | -11.62% | ||
| 01-Apr-21 | 96 | 1138 | 9.21% | |||
| 01-Oct-21 | 139 | 1277 | 12.21% | 22.55% | 22.55% | |
| 01-Apr-22 | 693 | 1971 | 54.35% | |||
| 01-Oct-22 | 129 | 2100 | 6.54% | 64.45% | 101.54% | 64.45% |
| 01-Apr-23 | 400 | 2500 | 26.84% | |||
| 01-Jul-23 | -426 | 2074 | -17.04% | 5.23% | 99.04% | 62.41% |
| 01-Oct-23 | -240 | 1,834 | -11.57% | -12.67% | 76.01% | 43.62% |
| 01-Jan-24 | 94 | 1,928 | 5.13% | -8.19% | 85.03% | 50.98% |
| 01-Apr-24 | -238 | 1,690 | -12.34% | -32.40% | 62.19% | 32.34% |
| 01-Jul-24 | -193 | 1,497 | -11.42% | -27.82% | 43.67% | 17.23% |
| 01-Oct-24 | 44 | 1,541 | 2.94% | -15.98% | 47.89% | 20.67% |
[3] YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2,186 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 15th – 16th February 2024. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).