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From this month, the cap on the most widely used tariffs imposed
by Britain's energy regulator are rising by 54%, meaning energy
bills for some 22 million customers will go up by hundreds of
pounds a year.
The cap is set to rise again in October, which could push an
additional 2.5 million households into fuel stress, the
Resolution Foundation, a think tank that focuses on living
standards, warned in a report.
Finance minister Rishi Sunak was widely criticised last week for
not doing enough in a budget update to help the poorest
households through the most severe hit to living standards since
at least the 1950s.
The Resolution Foundation said the poorest fifth of households
would spend more than twice the share of their budgets on energy
bills than the richest fifth, even after taking into account a
new government tax rebate scheme.
Some 24% of households in the north east of England are now in
fuel stress, which could rise to 41% in October, the Resolution
Foundation said.
"Another increase in energy bills this autumn hastens the need
for more immediate support," said Jonathan Marshall, senior
economist at the Resolution Foundation.
He called for a clear, long-term strategy for improving home
insulation, ramping up renewable and nuclear electricity
generation and reforming energy markets so that household energy
bills are less dependent on volatile global gas prices.
The benefits system rather than tax rebates would be a more
effective way to help the hardest-hit households, the Resolution
Foundation said.
(Reporting by Andy Bruce; Editing by William Schomberg)
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