The energy crisis is hitting our British neighbors hard.

Regulated energy prices will rise by 80% from October in the UK and gas and electricity bills could rise “significantly” further next year in the midst of the cost of living crisis.

The authorized price cap will drop from 1,971 pounds per year per average household to 3,549 pounds from October, regulator Ofgem said on Friday.

The rise reflects the surge in global wholesale gas prices since the post-pandemic deconfinements, and pushed to record levels by the limitations of Russian gas supplies to Europe since the start of the war in Ukraine. , argues Ofgem.

Gas prices have in recent days approached their all-time highs reached at the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine and Ofgem warns that "prices could worsen considerably in 2023".

The price cap being calculated according to 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.

Government action

Ofgem, employers, suppliers and associations are calling for immediate government action to avoid a "dramatic" shock for low-income households, already facing inflation at more than 10%, the highest in the G7 countries, while the British economy is flirting with recession.

According to the University of York, nearly two-thirds of British households are at risk of fuel poverty by next year.

With many precarious households dependent on rechargeable meters, "we left to see thousands (of households) with sudden interruptions of electricity", denounces the think tank Resolution Foundation.

Economy Minister Nadhim Zahawi promised that “help is coming, with £400 off energy bills for everyone, £650 for vulnerable households and £300 for pensioners”.

Energy policy

The environmental NGO Greenpeace asks for its part to put energy savings back at the heart of government policy, in particular the insulation of deplorable housing in the United Kingdom, and to "turbocharge" investment in renewables "which have become cheaper than gas.

The Don't Pay movement - "Ne payez pas" - had 115,657 members who pledged to stop paying their electricity bills from October if they are not reduced to an "affordable level", and provided to have 1 million signatories.

The organisation, which is calling for demonstrations outside Ofgem's office on Friday, has put up a banner on the bridge in front of Parliament, which reads: “May no one be cold or hungry this winter.

Pledge to strike” bills, according to a tweeted photo.

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  • energy

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  • UK

  • War in Ukraine

  • Economic crisis