Ofgem energy price cap for start of new year due to be announced this week

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Ofgem is set to announce the new energy price cap on Friday and the latest forecast from Cornwall Insight is that it will only go up by £19 for the next 12 months, less than 40 pence per week (£1.58 per month).

The energy consultancy said it expects the price cap to increase from the current £1,717 to £1,736, a rise of one per cent.Cornwall Insight had previously predicted a slight drop, but said this was now no longer the case, coming as a blow after energy bills increased by 10 per cent at the start of October.

They said: “Given the price cap rise in October, many will have been hoping to see a fall in the cap for January. Unfortunately, forecasts show that prices will be staying relatively high for the remainder of winter.”However, prices are still expected to fall slightly in both the second and fourth quarters of next year, according to Cornwall Insight.

Ofgem changes the price cap for households every three months, largely based on the cost of energy on wholesale markets, with the regulator confirming the level for the first quarter of next year on November 22.The energy price cap was introduced by the UK Government in January 2019 and sets a maximum price that energy suppliers can charge consumers in Scotland, England and Wales for each kilowatt hour (kWh) of energy they use.It does not limit total bills, because householders still pay for the amount of energy they consume.