Energy price cap October 2022: Ofgem confirms £3,549 price hike for UK households

The industry regulator confirmed an 80.06% rise, or £1,571, with the new cap coming into effect for around 24 million household in England, Scotland and Wales in October and will remain in place until it is adjusted again on December 31.

Ofgem’s chief executive Jonathan Brearley warned of the hardship energy prices will cause this winter and urged the incoming Prime Minister and new Cabinet “to provide an additional and urgent response to continued surging energy prices”.

How to reduce your energy bills

Mr Brearley said: “We know the massive impact this price cap increase will have on households across Britain and the difficult decisions consumers will now have to make. I talk to customers regularly and I know that today’s news will be very worrying for many.

“The price of energy has reached record levels driven by an aggressive economic act by the Russian state. They have slowly and deliberately turned off the gas supplies to Europe causing harm to our households, businesses and wider economy. Ofgem has no choice but to reflect these cost increases in the price cap.

“The Government support package is delivering help right now, but it’s clear the new Prime Minister will need to act further to tackle the impact of the price rises that are coming in October and next year.

“We are working with ministers, consumer groups and industry on a set of options for the incoming Prime Minister that will require urgent action. The response will need to match the scale of the crisis we have before us. With the right support in place and with regulator, Government, industry and consumers working together, we can find a way through this.”

Energy cap explained

Energy regulator Ofgem has created a helpful video explaining exactly what the energy price cap is. 

Watch it here:

🙋A question we often hear is “what is the price cap?”

While we don't increase or decrease the price of energy, we calculate the level of the government's #EnergyPriceCap that applies to default energy tariffs.

This may affect you. See how it works📺 https://t.co/7SyVaj2ogq pic.twitter.com/4wqpvMDGpl

— Ofgem (@ofgem) January 25, 2022

No immediate extra help will be announced by Boris Johnson’s Government, with major financial decisions being postponed until either Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak is in No 10 after the Tory leadership contest.

Based on Wednesday’s gas prices, experts at consultancy Auxilione think the cap will reach £5,210 in January 2023 and £6,823 in April.