Increase in energy bills leaves almost 90% of households just as worried about paying them as last year
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The vast majority of people are just as worried about paying their energy bills as they were last winter, despite a fall in prices. New polling found 88% of people are as concerned or even more so than last year, amid mounting calls for a social tariff for consumers.
The average energy bill for households across England, Scotland and Wales increased by 1.2% in January after Ofgem raised its price cap in response to wholesale prices. It means the yearly bill for a household using a typical amount of energy climbed to £1,738, up £21 from the previous cap.
That remains significantly lower than this time last year, when the figure stood at £1,928 per year, but it comes amid plunging temperatures this January. Britain recorded its coldest January night in 15 years earlier in the month as temperatures plummeting to minus 18.9C in Scotland, and the UK Health Security Agency issued several days of cold weather health alerts for England.
The poll of 2,000 people by research firm Strand Partners prompted fresh calls for a social tariff from the boss of energy supplier Ovo Energy. The measure, which campaign groups have proposed for several years, would likely take the form of a targeted discount energy deal for poorer customers, and could be below the price of the cheapest available standard energy tariff.
It also comes after energy secretary Ed Miliband said the measure is “something that we need looking at”. He told MPs on January 15: “Different people mean different things by a social tariff. We have a sort of social tariff in its infancy if you like through the warm homes discount but I definitely think that part of what we need to be examining the case for and the ability for us to do in the years ahead is, if you like, a more fully fledged version of that.”.
