Energy bill support ‘expected to continue after April’
Written by Nathan on March 3, 2023
Energy companies have been told to prepare for the possibility of extending the support towards customers’ bills – which is expected to stretch beyond April.
Speculation is mounting the government will cancel a planned £500 rise in energy bills for the average household from the start of next month.
Upbeat News understands suppliers have been asked by the government to be ready for a decision either way as the cost of wholesale energy falls.
E.ON’s CEO, Michael Lewis, has pressed the government to make a definite decision and continue support for lower bills.
“£500 is a significant increase at a time when customers are already under a lot of pressure financially,” he said.
“On behalf of all customers, I’d strongly urge the government to continue supporting lower bills and to announce that decision as soon as possible in order to avoid further confusion and distress for customers around whether bills will go up drastically again from April.”
Energy bills are currently capped at 34p per unit of electricity and 10.3p per unit of gas for households across the country.
For the average home that means a bill of around £2,500 a year.
But this is only possible with government support, which is set to become less generous from the start of April, a move which will push average bills to around £3,000.
It comes as the £66 monthly vouchers from the government also come to an end.
The downside to extending the support on energy bills is it will cost the government money.
But the price to keep protections the same for households until July will only cost the Treasury an extra £2.5 billion compared to raising the guarantee by £500, according to analysts at Cornwall Insight.
This is less than a tenth of the total cost of the scheme since September last year – this is because wholesale energy costs are falling.
At the moment the government is paying the equivalent of around £1,800 per year towards the average household’s energy bill.
Even if it keeps support at today’s levels that will fall to around £800 from the start of April and get reduced to £0 from July, according to current forecasts.
What other help is available?
If you’re in debt to your energy supplier, you might be able to get a grant to help pay it off.
The following energy suppliers offer grants to their customers:
EDF Energy Customer Support Fund
If none of these companies supply your energy, you can still apply for a grant though British Gas Energy Trust as you do not need to be a customer, but you need to get debt advice before applying.
Check if you can get a grant from the British Gas Energy Trust here.
Applications can be time consuming. For help, CAB advises people to reach out to one of its advisers or to contact Money Helper.
