New forecasts suggest that energy bills are set to fall by hundreds of pounds from the start of April for a typical household.
Energy bills could fall to their lowest level in two years, however there are concerns the surety instabilities in the Middle East could raise prices.
Cornwall Insight has said that households on the price cap tariff will pay from 1 April 2024 24.09p per unit of electricity and for each unit of gas people will 5.96 per unit.
A household that uses 2,700 units of electricity and 11,500 units of gas, will see its bills plummet from £1,928 to just £1,660 per year.
Cornwall Insights said that the change in price could last for some time, as long as there are no large changes geopolitically that could affect international markets.
Last month there was a drop in wholesale energy prices and in November natural gas cost £1.30 per them, but now the price is 82p per therm.
Dr Craig Lowrey, principal consultant at Cornwall Insight, said, “Current forecasts of price cap dips later in the year may offer a small light at the end of the tunnel.
“The recent stabilisation of international energy markets has trickled down to April’s price cap predictions, raising hopes that this downward path will continue throughout the remainder of 2024.
“However, history has shown that the wholesale energy market is highly volatile, and unexpected global events can lead to spikes in energy prices, ultimately feeding through to household bills – as we saw this time last year.
“Whether concerns in the Red Sea become heightened, or another potential disruption to supply occurs, there are no guarantees the price cap will not rise again.”
Dr Lowrey added, “Ultimately, waiting and hoping that we will avoid another global incident that sends energy prices climbing is not a sustainable strategy for Government.
“To achieve substantial reductions below pre-crisis levels, we must focus on long-term strategies which increase domestic renewable energy sources and reduce our reliance on volatile imports.”
Leave a Comment