Energy bills on the rise again this month
Domestic gas and electricity will cost around five per cent more from the start of January
Household gas and electricity will cost more in England, Scotland and Wales from the beginning of January. Official figures say that a typical domestic fuel bill will increase by £94 a year to £1,928, a rise of about five per cent.
However, that official figure is misleading because the price cap set by the energy regulator Ofgem only lasts three months. Another will apply from March, so no one will actually pay £1,928 in a year. Also it only applies to an “average user” paying by direct debit; no one is average and several million customers pay a different way. The actual cost will depend on how much electricity and gas you use, how you pay and where you live.
The standing charge (a daily amount you pay, regardless of how much fuel you use) is not changing. If you have both electricity and gas, you will pay £303 a year just to be connected if you pay by direct debit, but it will cost £368 with a prepayment meter or £345 if you pay quarterly. The standing charge for electricity also depends where you live: the daily charge is 38.5p in London but 62.2p in north Wales and Merseyside.
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The energy analyst Cornwall Insight predicts average standing charges will rise by almost ten per cent from March. The Government is consulting on how to fulfil its promise that people with prepayment meters pay the same charge as those paying by direct debit. The unit price, or kWh, is the amount you pay for every hour you use a kilowatt of energy. An electric kettle left boiling for 20 minutes would use 1kWh. That charge rises this month by about 4.6 per cent for electricity and 7.6 per cent for gas. As it costs four times more to buy a kWh of electricity (29p) than a kWh of gas (7.5p), you should use gas if you can for cooking and heating. The unit price of electricity also varies depending on where you live, by up to 2p per unit.
If you are finding energy bills too high, tell your supplier. It has a legal obligation to offer help. Or contact turn2us.org.uk, which can help you claim benefits and other grants and assistance.