The industry regulator Ofgem has just unveiled the price cap for this summer, and it’s not good news for millions of energy customers.

On average, from 1 July, households can expect an energy bill of around £2,074.

Despite Ofgem’s best efforts to spin this in a positive way, our energy bills are set to remain near record highs. We must not accept this as the new normal.

However, it’s crucial to note that if we consume more than the average amount, our bills will be more. That’s because the price cap restricts the unit cost, not the overall bill, meaning those who use more energy will pay more.

While the government’s Energy Bill Support Scheme has lowered the cap to around £2,100. It’s important to remember that energy bills were capped at £1,223 in the summer of 2021. CSE and other energy advice agencies were already struggling with record demand for our services before the energy crisis hit.

Ongoing energy costs of around £2,000 per year are simply unsustainable for people in fuel poverty struggling to pay their bills.

We can’t let this become the new normal. We urgently need more funding for advice and long-term energy efficiency measures, like insulation.

Ian Preston, director of household energy services at CSE

Millions of people across the UK still can’t afford to heat their homes.

Along with our partners at the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, and the Warm this Winter campaign, we’re highlighting that even after the Ofgem announcement today, energy bills are:

• Double what they were in 2020.
• 60% above what they were before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
• At a similar level to last winter, but with people having less ability to pay as the crisis continues.

Through our energy advice line, CSE advisors are hearing from more and more people in desperate circumstances every day. Keeping healthily warm is a basic human right and it’s wrong that so many people are struggling with cold homes and seriously worried about money.

Even as we move into summer, people are still really worried about how they are going to pay for energy. We urgently need a long-term plan to fix our broken energy system. We need targeted support for people on low incomes. And we need a strategy to improve homes so they so they don’t leak heat.