UK energy bill cap expected to rise to around 2,800 pounds - regulator

The head of Britain's energy regulator on Tuesday said a price cap on the most widely used consumer energy tariffs was expected to reach 2,800 pounds ($3,499.16) in October, leaving households facing even higher bills than some predictions.

"We are only part-way through the price cap window but we are expecting a price cap in October in the region of 2,800 pounds," Ofgem Chief Executive Jonathan Brearley told a committee hearing. The proposed cap would be a considerable jump from the current 1,971 pounds which, when it was introduced in April, had already been a more than 50% rise compared to the level before that.

If confirmed, a cap of around 2,800 pounds in October would be higher than forecasts from Cornwall Insights which had previously showed analysts expected it to rise to an average of 2,595 pounds a year. Prices rose last year when the reopening of world economies from pandemic lockdowns caused demand to return sharply and supply could not keep up. This year, the war in Ukraine has pushed up prices further.

"The price changes in the gas market are genuinely a once-in-a-generation event - not seen since the oil crisis in the 1970s," Brearley said. ($1 = 0.8002 pounds)

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