Responding to the Ofgem price cap announcement

Responding to the latest Ofgem price cap announcement, Dame Clare Moriarty, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, said: 

“We’re helping people every day who simply can’t afford this latest price hike. It comes as our research shows the number of people living in a household in debt to their energy supplier has reached a new high of nearly seven million. 

“We’re particularly concerned about households with children, where over one in three struggle to afford bills, rising to more than half of those on low incomes.

“The government can’t let another winter go by without targeted support for those most in need, and there is a way of paying for this. Our recent analysis found energy network companies made billions in excess profits while households have faced soaring bills, and it’s only right this money be used to help fund better targeted bill support and much-needed debt relief.”

As the winter draws to a close, new Citizens Advice research shows:

>6.7 million people in Great Britain are living in a household in debt to their energy supplier. >Nearly two thirds (64%) in energy debt say they’ve had to ration energy in the last year, including switching off or turning down heating or water as a result of their debt. That’s equal to 4.45 million people.

>Three in ten (30%) households said they find it difficult to afford their energy bills, equal to over 8.3 million households or nearly 20 million people.

Energy network company profits:

>Citizens Advice has found energy network companies, which provide pipes and cables to people’s homes, have pocketed nearly £4 billion in excess profits over the last four years.

>The charity wants network companies to use the money to support those struggling with rising costs, by funding targeted energy bill support and debt write-off schemes.