UK Energy tariffs soar next year amid cost-of-living crisis.
Regulated energy tariffs will increase by 80% from October in the UK.
The energy crisis is hitting our British neighbours hard. Regulated energy tariffs will rise by 80% from October in the UK and gas and electricity bills could rise even "significantly" next year in the midst of the cost of living crisis.
The authorized pricing ceiling will increase from 1,971 pounds per year per average household to 3,549 pounds from October, the regulator Ofgem said on Friday.
UK Energy tariffs soar
The increase reflects the surge in global wholesale gas prices since the post-pandemic deconfinement, and pushed to record levels by the limitations of Russian gas supplies to Europe since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, argues Ofgem. Gas prices have in recent days approached their historical records reached at the beginning of the Russian offensive in Ukraine and Ofgem warns that "prices could worsen significantly in 2023". Since the tariff ceiling is calculated based on the average of wholesale gas prices over the previous months, experts expect it to be raised to more than 4,000 pounds in January and up to 6,000 pounds in the spring.
Ofgem, employers, suppliers and associations are calling for immediate government action to avoid a "dramatic" shock for modest households, already facing inflation of more than 10%, the highest of the G7 countries, while the British economy is flirting with recession. According to the University of York, almost two thirds of British households are at risk of fuel poverty as early as next year.
UK Energy tariffs soar details
With many precarious homes dependent on rechargeable meters, "we left to see thousands (of homes) with sudden interruptions in electricity," denounces the Resolution Foundation think tank. Economy Minister Nadhim Zahawi promised that "help is coming, with 400 pounds of discounts on energy bills for everyone, 650 pounds for vulnerable households and 300 pounds for pensioners".
The environmental NGO Greenpeace, for its part, is calling for energy savings to be put back at the heart of government policy, in particular the deplorable insulation of housing in the United Kingdom, and to "turbo-charge" investment in renewables that have "become cheaper" than gas.
The Don't Pay movement - "Don't Pay" - had 115,657 members who pledged not to pay their electricity bills from October if they are not brought back to an "affordable level", and provided they have 1 million signatories. The organisation, which is calling for a protest outside Ofgem's office on Friday, has put up a banner on the bridge in front of Parliament, reading: "Let no one be cold or hungry this winter. Pledge to go on strike" over the bills, according to a tweeted photo.
# UK Energy tariffs soar #
More news:
Energy: Without the tariff shield, the price of gas would be twice as high today as in 2021
This device, which aimed to reduce the impact of a 19.5% increase in tariffs in the fall of 2021, served well in 2022.
Natural gas consumers in France who benefit from Engie's regulated tariffs will continue to pay the same as in 2021 on September 1. This was confirmed on Tuesday by the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE), which clarified that without state protection, gas would be 105.1% more expensive at the start of the new year than on October 1, 2021.
At the time of its creation on October 1, 2021, the "tariff shield" which froze the applicable scales for regulated gas sales tariffs (TRV) aimed to spare the French an expected 19.5% increase in natural gas prices in November 2021 and December 2021.
The government then expected gas prices to fall at the end of winter. However, prices have continued to skyrocket in 2022 in Europe, with the war in Ukraine since February and the gradual drying up of Russian gas exports to Europe.
For 2023, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne announced last July that the tariff shield, which today also concerns electricity, could be replaced by more targeted aid aimed at modest French people. The government has not yet unveiled its plan.
