British energy bills to fall after 12% cut to price cap

Most British household energy bills will fall from April after regulator Ofgem cut its domestic price cap by 12.3% to its lowest level in more than two years.

Most British household energy bills will fall from April after regulator Ofgem cut its domestic price cap by 12.3% to its lowest level in more than two years. The drop, prompted by lower wholesale energy prices, will provide some respite for households struggling to contend with a cost of living crisis while also helping to help curb inflation.

Ofgem's new cap of 1,690 pounds ($2,139.37) a year for average use of electricity and gas is down 238 pounds from the previous cap of 1,928 pounds. "This will see energy prices reach their lowest level since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022," Ofgem said.

About 29 million customers are on standard rate tariffs covered by the price cap, which was introduced in 2019 to protect consumers. The cap is set using factors such as network fees and social and environmental costs as well as wholesale energy prices. It is updated every quarter to reflect changes to those costs. ($1 = 0.7896 pounds)