ITV says Ofgem expects prices cap to be £2,800 in October, up from £1,971 now - how will we manage

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Just saw ITV talking about the Head of Ofgem writing to Rishi Sunak today to inform him the price cap is expected to be £2,800 in October, up from £1,971. That's 1k increase. It was £1,277 in October 2021. How are we and other people going to manage. Is the UK really going to hit a massive recession now? What is BofE going to do about interest rates - inflation will hit the roof. Feeling very scared about the future now

What does this mean in terms of capped price per kw or capped standing charge?
Many households are already paying far more than the predicted rises, and it would be helpful if we were told how much the kw and SC price will be increasing as well as the capped price increase for the average household?

I don't know and I'm really worried. We're in the abyss of earning enough to cover bills and not qualify for benefits, yet we're struggling to meet outgoings. It's shit because we cant afford to do much with the dc, days out are a rarity rather than enjoying weekend days out, treats are rare.

There is not much we can do, except perhaps upgrade our skills and switch to a higher paying job (easier said than done obviously!). we can sit in our rooms in darkness but unless we propose to zip up our mouths and not eat, the increased electricity cost will be passed down to us due to the food we buy from supermarkets etc. Asking for a pay increase in current jobs will just lead to a wage spiral and more inflation.

We can cut out all luxuries but given the UK's biggest employer is retail/hospitality, that probably means someone loses their job and therefore can't afford to buy basic goods.

Mess all around, government should really cut VAT.

This has been quite hard to track down but I believe based on the Energy Saving Trust that Ofgem use a figure of 12,000 kWh as a figure for a typical household's annual usage. I understand to some extent why people talk in generalities like '£2,800 a year' but it gives people the impression the most they can be charged is £2,800 a year. This is not what the price cap is.

I agree @Junipercrumble to come up with this number of £2,800 someone must have an idea of what the increase to the standing charge and the price per kWh is likely to be - those numbers would be far more helpful in allowing people to assess the impact on their own finances.

Some people won't be able to pay such huge increases, they just don't have any spare money

I've read news stories where some people are only affording to eat one meal per day already in 2022

Heat or eat

people will resort to crime/prostitution/shoplifting to pay their bills and feed their children.

Agreed. I don't know why they insist on doing it this way, it's no good to anyone.

It almost seems pointless having a price cap in the first place, if it isn't being used as a tool to help ordinary people be able to afford to pay for their essential utilities.

It would be like the equivalent of setting the minimum wage at 50p an hour - far, far lower than anybody could ever possibly hope to manage to live on; but doing it theoretically makes it sound like the government actually cares about the ordinary folk.

What is BofE going to do about interest rates - inflation will hit the roof.

It's just frightening, isn't it? Increases in the interest rate are supposed to quell inflation by discouraging people from making too many luxury optional purchases - not to be able to give their kids a hot meal and a home where they don't have to sit shivering. All they're really doing is punishing us twice over for the fact that we need basic energy supplies to live our lives.

Agreed. I don't know why they insist on doing it this way, it's no good to anyone.

It's also a very 'good' way of discriminating further against people with disabilities and making them realise that they apparently don't matter - apart from as an ignorable anomaly. My circulation is pretty much shot, so as well as wearing a thick jumper and 4-season hiking socks all of the time, I have to have the heating on high for far longer into the warmer months than most people.

And there are plenty of folk who are far more disabled than I am, and those needing multiple power hungry mobility aids and specialist equipment in order to cope with the absolute basics of everyday life. So nice to know that, if you were an 'average' user, you would 'only' have to pay a less ridiculously extortionate price - so that's all lovely and grand, I guess....

Already happening. At least once a week someone offers me stolen goods to buy while I'm out in the garden. Was only a rare occurrence till recently.

Everyone is talking about heating but it really is not that which is most of our household usage - it's the electricity. We are still on an old fixed rate but I can already see where the usage will jump. DH WFH so there's a laptop on all day, electric shower/oven/washing machine are already used as little as possible but there comes a point where you can't cut any more without sacrificing basic hygiene and houses get damp.

And of course the huge rise in the standing charges means that however economical people are with their usage, their bills will rise enormously just for the privilege of being connected to the grid. This is the most unfair part because it means that there is nothing consumers can do to control this element of their bills.

I predict riots!

here is the article which made me panic - www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61562657

That is roughly a 42% rise, so whatever your bill is now (if you are on the standard variable rate) times it by 1.42 and that's approximately what it'll go up to.

I think that's because the gas usage is so seasonal that you really feel the difference. I'm using 11.25kwh of gas each day at the moment because the heatings off. In the winter every hour of heating is 30kwh of gas with our combi, which is typically on on for four/ five hours in winter or double that if we get heavy snow.

Yes our heating is gas and our gas bills are pretty low. It’s the electricity that I notice. TBF I’m pretty mean about the heating but even still.

I always read articles saying how having the fridge / freezer on 24/7 is actually really cheap, how the kettle boiling is just pennies, how switching the Tv off standby won’t save you anything noticeable etc etc. If all these things are really just pennies, what on earth is my bill made up of? I’d happily try and reduce my electricity consumption but I don’t really see anything I’m doing that is excessive.

Hopefully, I include myself in this so aware I'm being a hypocrite, but why we lie down and take it and let the government fuck us all over is baffling. Although globally things are also rising in price, we are being disproportionately affected by governments poor decisions.

Although to be honest it’s interest rates that scare me far more. I could easily see an increase in our mortgage bill costing 5x or more this increase in energy prices.

Just correcting myself looked back at January figures and 108kwh was the highest gas use day, although this winter was pretty mild.

It's very concerning. We're already doing everything we can to cut usage but what can one do when there's realistically nothing left to cut back?!

And I read somewhere today that there may be financial assistance to those 'poorest' Brits (i.e. those on U/C) - but what about other Brits, those on average wages yet also struggling and pensioners?

It's all bloody screwed up. With all that we hear these days, the country's becoming a farce.

I am really scared about interest rates. BofE will have to raise them due to inflation but also the US' rates rising. We only just bought our house and cant afford rates to be 3% let alone 5% so for us once our fixed term is over, we will have to sell

@WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll
Absolutely. we have 2 disabled children and have to keep the house warm and run a whole host of medical equipment to keep them alive basically. Not to mention the endless washing due to wet beds etc.
we were paying over 300 a month before the last rise and it is now up to 469 per month.
We estimate we will be paying between 600 and 700 a month once he heating needs to be on all the time again.
There is no help for us . We didnt even get the warm home grant last year as the supplier went bump before the princely sum of 150 reached our account
I would be overjoyed to be paying 2800ponds !

Has anyone seen a convincing reason WHY the Government is allowing the price cap to be increased by so much when the energy companies are making record profits?

I understand the reasons we are being given (supply/demand/need to make profits to reinvest in green energy etc etc). But if someone has a convincing argument why the ordinary customers should be expected to pay vastly more for their every day fuel whilst energy companies make more profit than ever (and are distributing loads of it to shareholders so it's not about reinvestment) I would love to hear it.

My take on all of this is that the ordinary people are being expected to put up with poverty whilst the owners of energy companies get richer and richer.

Other countries seem to be able to keep the fuel prices lower- why can't we? Or could it be that our leaders and their friends/families are making money and/or influence from this of course they fucking are

You can overpay to reduce your LTV which will hopefully help. High inflation also pushes up house prices which also help your LTV.