By Nicholas Earl
Energy bills will rise to a whopping £4,348 per year in April, warned Cornwall Insight, unless the Government commits to further support for households.
The specialist has predicted the energy price cap will remain well above the current subsidised rates – which are already all-time highs – until 2024 at the earliest.
Cornwall Insight is not the only forecast to dust off its predictions calculator, with rival forecasterAuxilione expecting the cap to rise even higher to £4,500 per year from April.
This follows new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt confirming he will slash the duration of the Energy Price Guarantee from two years to six months.
The support package reduces energy bills, setting the rate for average energy usage at £2,500 per year, rather than at the price cap rate of £3,549 per year announced last month by Ofgem.
However, it will now only last over the current winter period, concluding in April next year rather than in late 2024 as initially planned.
The Government will instead review targeted support measures to provide help to or households, while lowering the costs of the package – which had been estimated to cost as much as £140bn depending on wholesale costs.
Forecasters were regularly unveiling predictions for the price cap prior to the announcement for the support package.
The expectations for 2023 were markedly higher earlier this summer, with forecasts climbing over £7,000 per year.
Since then however, wholesale market conditions have eased with Europe racing to top up supplies ahead of winter and the West invoking energy saving measures in a bid to prevent a supply crunch this winter.
The National Grid predicts the UK should avoid future blackouts in all but a worst case scenario where exceptionally cold weather and a lack of supplies from Europe create supply shortages over the new year.
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