Ofgem warns household energy bills set to soar from April

Ofgem has announced from 1 April energy bills will rise by 6.4% in England, Scotland and Wales for the third consecutive quarter.

Following a spike in wholesale prices the variable tariff will rise from £1,738 a year to £1,849.

Ofgem chief executive Jonathan Brearley said, “We know that no price rise is ever welcome, and that the cost of energy remains a huge challenge for many households.

“But our reliance on international gas markets leads to volatile wholesale prices, and continues to drive up bills, which is why it’s more important than ever that we’re driving forward investment in a cleaner, homegrown system.

“Energy debts that began during the energy crisis have reached record levels and without intervention will continue to grow. This puts families under huge stress and increases costs for all customers. We’re developing plans that could give households with unmanageable debt the clean slate they need to move forward.”

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said, “This is worrying news for many families.

“This Government is determined to do everything we can to protect people from the grip of fossil fuel markets.

“Expanding the Warm Home Discount can help protect millions of families from rising energy bills, offering support to consumers across the country.

“Alongside this, the way to deliver energy security and bring down bills for good is to deliver our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower with homegrown clean power that we in Britain control.”

Citizens Advice chief executive Dame Clare Moriarty said, “We’re particularly concerned about households with children, where over one in three struggle to afford bills, rising to more than half of those on low incomes.

“The Government can’t let another winter go by without targeted support for those most in need, and there is a way of paying for this. Our recent analysis found energy network companies made billions in excess profits while households have faced soaring bills and it’s only right this money be used to help fund better targeted bill support and much-needed debt relief.”