Ministers urged to curb energy costs as Great British homes face 13% bill surge

Households in Great Britain will see their energy bills rise by 13% from Wednesday, as the quarterly price cap climbs to the equivalent of £1,862 a year, intensifying pressure on ministers and the incoming prime minister to intervene [1]. The increase, confirmed by regulator Ofgem, comes as unpaid energy bills have climbed by £240m in the past three months to reach an all-time high of almost £4.8bn [1]. The surge in wholesale energy prices has been driven by the war in Iran, which has disrupted oil and gas shipments through the Strait of Hormuz for the past four months [1][2]. The conflict has been characterized by the International Energy Agency as the "largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market" [2]. Andy Burnham, who appears set to become the next prime minister, will face immediate calls to tackle high energy bills upon taking power [1]. The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has previously ruled out offering the universal energy support provided by Liz Truss’s government in 2022 [1]. James Mabey, a policy analyst at National Energy Action, said: “The consequences of energy debt include cold homes, rising anxiety and impossible choices about essentials. The right response is to scale debt relief” [1]. Nigel Pocklington, chief executive of the supplier Good Energy, said: “Rising energy bills are becoming a financial nightmare for millions of households across the UK, with many people unsure how they’re going to keep up with the current payments, let alone rising costs” [1]. Good Energy has proposed a plan that, combined with recent government measures to reduce bills by £150 a year, could cut household costs by £270 annually [1]. The proposal would cost the Treasury about £10.1bn and save the typical bill payer £76 a year, while vulnerable households would save £376 a year [1]. The company has also joined calls for the government to break the link between expensive gas power and the overall electricity market price by taking gas plants out of the market and into a strategic reserve [1]. Separate analysis by Greenpeace and consultants at Stonehaven indicates the plan could save up to £60 a year for households and could be delivered within two years [1]. Pocklington added: “The next prime minister must set out a clear plan for how Britain will move away from high gas prices and bring bills down for good” [1]. The current crisis echoes the 2021–2023 global energy crisis, which caused varying effects in different parts of the world [3]. The Strait of Hormuz closure has forced QatarEnergy to declare force majeure on all exports, and Brent Crude surged past $120 per barrel [2]. The resulting supply shock has placed renewed focus on the energy transition, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by phasing down fossil fuels and shifting to low-carbon electricity [6]. A government spokesperson said: “We have taken £150 of costs off energy bills for the years ahead and extended the warm home discount to around 6 million households. We are going further and faster to move on to homegrown energy we control, including taking decisive action to break the influence of gas on electricity prices, to better protect households from energy crises” [1].