Energy bills hit £1,723 today as experts warn of ANOTHER £276 rise in January

From the Newshound archive · first published 1 October 2026.

Ofgem's energy price cap rose 4% today, lifting the average annual gas and electricity bill to £1,723. Cornwall Insight forecasters are now predicting a further 16% increase to £1,999 from January 1 — the steepest rise in four years. Andy Burnham's government has scrapped VAT on electricity bills, cutting roughly £45 a year off costs, but campaigners say that relief is nowhere near enough for households under financial pressure. The January surge is being fuelled by the Iran war's effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which has pushed wholesale gas prices to a three-year high and set energy debt on track to reach £7 billion by the end of the year.

The End Fuel Poverty Coalition warns that without an emergency heat tariff, 'people will get ill — some will die' this winter.

Chancellor John Healey is facing growing calls to unveil new energy support in next month's budget, with some Labour MPs privately warning his team has 'failed to grasp the severity' of the crisis.

Pat Snell, a pensioner from Redditch whose husband suffered a stroke, says even at £300 a month they 'were still cold' — and her fixed-rate tariff ends in late October.