Energy bills forecast to rise by £85 a year

Domestic energy prices are forecast to rise by 5% from April, adding £85 a year to household bills, according to consultancy Cornwall Insight.

The forecaster, which is widely regarded for its accurate predictions, said a household using a typical amount of gas and electricity would pay £1,823 a year.

The predicted higher prices will take effect at the same time as increases to water and council tax bills in April.

However, minimum wage levels will also go up while benefits and the state pension will increase.

Cornwall forecasts that the price cap will rise from its current level of £1,738 per year for a typical household.

The predicted rise will come as the days get lighter and warmer, when energy use tends to fall.

Cornwall say the hike is due to a combination of colder weather and a fall in gas storage levels across Europe, which has led to a sharp rise in wholesale prices.

Bills are about 50% higher than pre-Covid levels, but remain below the peak seen in 2022 when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused energy prices to spike.

With gas and electricity prices set to increase, some homes might look at the options available to fix their energy tariff.

Ofgem, the regulator, will announce the official new energy price cap level on 25 February, which will affect homes in England, Wales and Scotland.

The price cap affects 26 million households on default, variable tariffs and is set every three months by Ofgem.

While the cost of each unit of gas and electricity is capped, the total bill is not, so household bills will vary depending on how much energy is used.

The regulator illustrates the cap by showing the impact on the annual bill of a household with typical energy usage.

In January, there was a 1.2% rise – which worked out as £1.75 extra a month compared with the previous cap.

A period of high prices means households have collectively built up debt of £3.8bn to suppliers.

The average household in arrears owes more than £1,500 for electricity and £1,300 for gas.