Bills set to rise 13.5% as households face a difficult summer and a harder winter

In one week’s time (1 July 2026), the Ofgem price cap will rise by 13.5%, adding £221 to the average household energy bill and pushing it to £1,862 per year.

The increase is driven almost entirely by gas, with gas unit rates up 28% quarter-on-quarter, a direct consequence of the disruption to global energy markets triggered by the US-Israeli conflict with Iran and effectively creating what some campaigners have called a “Trump Tax” on energy.

The rise lands at a moment of wider financial distress.

Recent Opinium polling for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition found that three in 10 UK adults are already in energy debt or worried about falling behind. For parents with children under 18, that figure rises to 45%. Meanwhile, UK energy companies posted around £3 billion in profits from their UK operations alone in the first quarter of 2026, equivalent to £102 for every household in the country.

The price shock profiteers are thriving. Ordinary families are not.

Simon Francis, coordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said: “In one week, bills go up again. For households already skipping meals, visiting foodbanks and, in some cases, borrowing from people who make them feel scared just to keep the lights on, this is not an abstract announcement, it is a moment of real dread.

“Energy bills will increase to levels 79% higher than in 2021 and the cumulative extra cost to households since 2021 stands at £4,800. This second fossil fuel price crisis in five years has been driven by the country’s over-reliance on gas. Long-term energy security cannot rely on a declining North Sea, where firms have already extracted 90% of commercially viable gas while posting billions in profits.

“The drill-more-bill-more brigade would have us repeat that cycle indefinitely and expose households to the perils of imported fossil fuels. The reality is that households cannot wait any longer for a comprehensive package of energy bill support in the short term and longer term energy market reform.”