- Title: Britain's energy price cap a 'disaster' says fuel poverty charity
- Date: 26th August 2022
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (AUGUST 26, 2022) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) NATIONAL ENERGY ACTION CHIEF EXECUTIVE, ADAM SCORER, SAYING: "If you get put onto a pre-payment meter because you're in debt, then every penny, every pound that you put into that meter, that company's taking a large chunk of it to service your debt. If you're on a prepayment meter in the UK you're paying more for your energy, much more than other payment methods. You're exposed to the big costs of energy-intensive energy use during the winter. You're probably paying for a debt every time you charge that metre. It's a pretty inequitable part of the energy system in the UK, and there are many things in our regulatory environment and business environment of the energy market we need to address, but that's pretty much at the front of the queue to try and make sure that people in the greatest need, the greatest vulnerability, with the least amount of money, get a decent level of service and protection from this energy market."
- Embargoed: 9th September 2022 08:39
- Keywords: Adam Scorer Energy prices National Energy Action October price cap Ofgem electricity energy price cap fuel poverty gas meter power bills
- Location: VARIOUS LOCATIONS, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- City: VARIOUS LOCATIONS, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- Country: UK
- Topics: Europe,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA00E064525082022RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: British energy bills will rise 80% to an average of 3,549 pounds ($4,188) a year from October, regulator Ofgem said on Friday (August 26), putting millions at risk of fuel poverty, charity National Energy Action said.
The new average bill for electricity and gas for 24 million households means energy bills will have almost trebled from October last year when they were an average of 1,277 pounds, a major factor in inflation rising to a 40-year high.
Chief executive of National Energy Action, Adam Scorer, told Reuters the new price rise was "a disaster" that will send nine million households into fuel poverty, up from four million households in September 2021.
Fuel poverty is determined if a household has to spend more than 10% of its income on power bills, Scorer explained.
Ofgem said it was not giving projections for January when a new cap will take effect because the market remained too volatile, but it said the market for gas in winter means that prices could get "significantly worse" through 2023.
Energy bills have soared this year after wholesale gas and power prices, already rising after the pandemic, surged following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Moscow's move to curtail gas exports to Europe.
The two candidates vying to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister have clashed over how to respond.
Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak's proposals, which include suspending environmental levies or cutting a sales tax, have been dismissed by analysts as too little to avert the unprecedented hit to household budgets.
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