[ad_1]
Typical household bills will be held at £2,500 a year for another three months, the Treasury has confirmed.
The Energy Price Guarantee will no longer rise as expected to £3,000 from April, as had been planned, but will remain at its present level for a further three months until June.
It means households will not feel the full force of Ofgem’s price cap between April and June – which will become £3,280 – helping to bridge consumers into the summer, when energy bills are expected to fall to around £2,100.
Households faced a £500 average annual rise from April as the Government had planned to raise its guarantee to £3,000.
Instead the Government estimates holding the scheme at the same level for another three months will save a typical household £160.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “We know people are worried about their bills rising in April, so to give people some peace of mind, we’re keeping the Energy Price Guarantee at its current level until the summer when gas prices are expected to fall.
“Continuing to hold down energy bills is part of our plan to help hardworking families with the cost of living and halve inflation this year.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said: “High energy bills are one of the biggest worries for families, which is why we’re maintaining the Energy Price Guarantee at its current level.
“With energy bills set to fall from July onwards, this temporary change will bridge the gap and ease the pressure on families, while also helping to lower inflation too.”
The Government estimates that holding its Energy Price Guarantee at £2,500 for another three months will save the typical household a total of £160.
The scheme has already cut the typical family energy bill by over £1,300 since October.
Under the Ofgem price cap, the average household energy bill would have hit £4,279 a year this winter.
The cap was due to fall to £3,280 from April but households faced a £500 average annual rise as the Government had planned to raise its guarantee to £3,000.
Lower wholesale gas prices are expected to feed through to lower household energy bills from July.
Cornwall Insight data suggests the Ofgem price cap will reach an estimated £2,100 a year for a typical household.
[ad_2]
Source link