UK households face highest energy bills in 3 years as price cap rises 4%

Energy regulator says increase reflects higher wholesale gas prices due to ongoing Middle East conflict, with volatile global gas markets driving price changes

Millions of households in Britain will face their highest energy bills in three years this winter after the country’s energy regulator announced Wednesday a 4% increase in the energy price cap from October. In a statement, Ofgem said that the gas and electricity price cap will rise 4% for the period from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2026, due to higher wholesale gas prices linked to the Iran war. “This increase reflects higher wholesale gas prices as a result of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, with volatile global gas markets remaining the dominant driver of price changes,” it said. The energy regulator for Great Britain updates the energy price cap every three months to reflect changes in the underlying costs of supplying energy. “The energy price cap protects around 22 million households on default tariffs by limiting the maximum rates and standing charges that energy suppliers can charge,” Ofgem said. The new rate for about 22 million households is equivalent to £1,723 ($2,348) a year for a typical household’s gas and electricity use, compared with £1,663 ($2,266) for the July-September period. “We know people are under huge amounts of pressure due to the cost of living, and I know that people are really worried about their energy bills, and we are absolutely alongside them and trying to do everything we can,” Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh told the BBC. Shadow Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho, meanwhile, said the government had to “put cheap energy first.” “Labour promised to cut energy bills by £300 ($408), but they have gone up by nearly £400 ($545) instead,” she was quoted as saying by the BBC.