Ministers urged to curb energy costs as Great British homes face 13% bill surge

The quarterly cap on gas and electricity charges in England, Wales and Scotland will rise by 13% from Wednesday. Photograph: Jacob King/PA View image in fullscreen The quarterly cap on gas and electricity charges in England, Wales and Scotland will rise by 13% from Wednesday. Photograph: Jacob King/PA Ministers urged to curb energy costs as Great British homes face 13% bill surge Quarterly Ofgem price cap rises to equivalent of £1,862 a year from 1 July amid growing consumer energy debt Ministers are facing growing pressure to lower energy costs as households in Great Britain face the steepest rise in summer bills in four years this week. The quarterly cap on gas and electricity charges will rise by 13% from Wednesday to the equivalent of £1,862 a year for an average household, just days after figures revealed that consumer energy debt had reached fresh record highs. Unpaid energy bills have climbed by £240m in the past three months, according to the data released by the industry regulator Ofgem, last week, to reach an all-time high of almost £4.8bn. Andy Burnham, who appears set to become the next prime minister , will face immediate calls to tackle high energy bills upon taking power, amid fears over their impact this winter. The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has previously ruled out offering the universal energy support provided by Liz Truss’s government in 2022. James Mabey , policy analyst at National Energy Action, a fuel poverty charity, said: “The consequences of energy debt include cold homes, rising anxiety and impossible choices about essentials. The right response is to scale debt relief.” As households have fallen deeper into debt, wholesale energy prices have surged due to the war in Iran which has disrupted oil and gas shipments via the strait of Hormuz for the last four months. Until this week, the quarterly price cap has delayed the full impact of the crisis on household bills – but the surge in wholesale prices will be passed on from 1 July and remain elevated until the next price cap takes effect at the start of October. Nigel Pocklington, the CEO of the supplier Good Energy, said: “Rising energy bills are becoming a financial nightmare for millions of households across the UK, with many people unsure how they’re going to keep up with the current payments, let alone rising costs. “We need to urgently reform the way the market operates to deliver and incentivise a cleaner, more affordable energy system. The priority now should be turning that into action.” He added: “The next prime minister must set out a clear plan for how Britain will move away from high gas prices and bring bills down for good. “The Labour government still has time to deliver on its ambition to cut household bills, but doing so requires urgent action to decouple electricity prices from gas, so consumers can fully benefit from lower-cost, homegrown clean energy.” Good Energy has set out a proposal which, combined with recent government measures to reduce bills by