Across the Citizens Advice network, we see the real-life cases of people who are hit hardest by energy debt. Many were already pushed to breaking point by the pandemic and then the cost of living crisis which followed. With the spiralling energy bills of the last couple of years, this has had a cumulative and compounding impact.
Typical household energy bills increased by 54% in April 2022 and by 27% in October 2022. Lower wholesale prices have led to some falls in prices, but bills remain around 29% above what they were in winter 2021/22. For most people, that is a massive increase to have to cope with. For those who were already struggling, it’s impossible.
As we set out to the regulator this week, the average energy…
