UK households struggling with energy bills set to triple: think tank
>>Reuters
Published: 17 Jan 2022 06:46 PM BdST Updated: 17 Jan 2022 06:46 PM BdST
-
A farmer works in a field surrounded by electricity pylons in Ratcliffe-on-Soar, in central England, Sep 10, 2014. REUTERS/Darren Staples
The proportion of British households struggling with energy bills will triple in April when regulated prices look set to rise by more than 50%, the Resolution Foundation said on Monday.
Britain's government will need to spend more than 7 billion pounds ($9.6 billion) this year if it wants to offset the effect of soaring energy prices for households, the think tank said.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government is under growing pressure from the rising cost of living. The Bank of England predicts annual consumer price inflation will hit a 30-year high of around 6% in April.
"Rising gas prices are causing energy bills to soar, and will see the number of families suffering from 'fuel stress' to treble to more than six million households this summer," Resolution Foundation economist Jonny Marshall said.
The proportion of households spending more than 10% of their income on electricity and heating bills - a threshold used to define 'fuel poverty' in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - will triple to 27% from April, the think tank estimated.
Many smaller utility companies have collapsed as wholesale energy prices have risen faster than the maximum tariffs they are allowed to charge, which are updated twice a year.
The average household energy bill is likely to rise to 2,000 pounds a year in April, the Resolution Foundation said.
Offsetting the impact of this for the poorest households would cost 2.5 billion pounds, through a 300-pound increase to an annual grant and expanding it to the poorest 8.5 million households. This measure would reduce the number of households in 'fuel stress' by 1 million, the think tank said.
A further measure - deferring the cost of utility company failures charged to household bills and using general taxation rather than energy bills to fund climate change mitigation - would cost a further 4.8 billion pounds and reduce the number of households in 'fuel stress' by an extra 1.7 million.
($1 = 0.7306 pounds)
-
$42bn forex reserves: enough?
-
I was offered consultancy in return for Padma Bridge duty: Mashiur
-
Sri Lanka to pay $72.6m for 90,000 tonnes Russian oil
-
Coal India to import for first time in years
-
Ready to discuss Ukrainian grain shipments: Putin
-
Hasina urges OECD to extend preferential facilities to 2029
-
India seen facing worsening power outage risks
-
Cut off from wheat imports, Egypt leans on local harvest
-
Is Bangladesh's current $42bn forex reserve safe enough?
-
Mashiur says donors offered him foreign consultancy if he gave up Padma Bridge job
-
Sri Lanka to pay $72.6m for 90,000 tonnes Russian oil, minister says
-
Coal India to import for first time in years as power shortages loom
-
Putin says he's willing to discuss resuming Ukrainian grain shipments
-
Hasina urges Japan, other OECD countries to extend preferential facilities to 2029
Most Read
- 2 Bangladeshi policemen reported ‘missing’ in Netherlands after training
- Bangladeshi faces deportation, separation from family after 25 years in Canada
- Mashiur says donors offered him foreign consultancy if he gave up Padma Bridge job
- Russia pummels eastern towns in bid to encircle Ukraine forces
- Is Bangladesh's current $42bn forex reserve safe enough?
- Nepal plane goes missing with 22 on board, teams head to fire site
- Bus crashes into a tree in Barishal, 10 dead
- Clinical Real Madrid beat Liverpool to claim 14th Champions League title
- Sri Lanka to pay $72.6m for 90,000 tonnes Russian oil, minister says
- Bangladesh to set uniform dollar exchange rate amid currency volatility