Households in the UK are facing much higher electricity prices as a result of the energy crunch, British media report, as the government prepares to adjust a cap on utility bills in April this year.
"This year is going to be a very tough year for many people. The energy price crisis needs substantial intervention from the Government," said Martin Lewis, founder of the free money saving advice website Money Saving Expert, as quoted by iNews.
"We are going to see a minimum 50 per cent increase in energy prices in the system and that is unsustainable for many," Lewis also said.
Per another report, in The Guardian, some six million UK households may be unable to afford the higher energy bills expected from April unless the government intervenes, according to a charity.
There were four million households living in fuel poverty at the start of 2021, the charity, National Energy Action, said. This number will grow by another two million if the energy bill cap is adjusted in tune with market price trends.
"Those on lowest incomes and in less-efficient homes will not just face financial hardship but intolerable living conditions, ill health and, for too many, a shortened life," the chief executive of National Energy Action, Adam Scorer, said. "This is not just conjecture. It will happen and we've had enough time to see it coming and act."
The UK's shadow secretary for climate change and net-zero, Ed Milliband, said, as quoted by The Guardian, "Working people are being hit by a cost-of-living crisis which has seen energy bills soar, food costs increase and the weekly budget stretched. The government must take urgent action to support those people struggling to pay bills."
The Financial Times reported last month that the country's energy regulator Ofgem was looking for ways to spread the additional burden, made heavier by the collapse of a number of electricity distributors, more evenly over a longer period of time.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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