The energy price cap on bills across Great Britain will rise by 6.4% in April, the regulator Ofgem has announced.
This will lift the average annual cost of electricity and gas for a typical household to £1,849 per year, up from £1,738.
This is the third consecutive hike in the cap on gas and electricity charges, and a little higher than analysts had expected.
Jonathan Brearley, CEO of Ofgem, has blamed “volatile” prices in the wholesale energy sector for pushing up the price cap on British energy bills.
Brearley says:“We know that no price rise is ever welcome, and that the cost of energy remains a huge challenge for many households.
“But our reliance on international gas markets leads to volatile wholesale prices, and continues to drive up bills, which is why it’s more important than ever that we’re driving forward investment in a cleaner, homegrown system."
The UK government is considering giving more support to households with their energy bills.It is proposing expanding the £150 warm home discount scheme, so that nearly three million more families would be eligible.
This would mean one in five families in Britain would get help with their bills through these proposals.
Announcing a consultation on the idea, energy Secretary Ed Miliband says: “This government is determined to do everything we can to protect people from the grip of fossil fuel markets. Expanding the warm home discount can help protect millions of families from rising energy bills, offering support to consumers across the country."
The government is also planning to accelerate a debt relief scheme which it says will help tackle debt and reduce households’ energy costs.
Meanwhile, consumer goods maker Unilever has surprised the City by announcing the departure of its CEO, Hein Schumacher.
Schumacher is leaving Unilever, which owns Marmite, Dove and Ben & Jerry’s, having only taken control of the company 19 months ago, in July 2023.
Unilever says he is departing “by mutual agreement” and will leave the company on 31 May 2025.
He is being replaced by Unilever’s chief financial officer, Fernando Fernandez.
Schumacher had been implementing a “growth action plan”, and Unilever’s board indicaate they want Fernandez to accelerate it – a hint that perhaps Schumacher wasn’t making changes quickly enough.
Last year, Unilever announced it would cut 7,500 jobs through a cost-saving programme.
The agenda • 7am GMT: Energy regulator Ofgem announces UK energy price cap for April-June7am GMT: Final estimate of German GDP for Q4 2024 • 9.45am and 2.30pm GMT: Parliament’s Science, Innovation and Technology Committee holds hearings into social media, misinformation and harmful algorithms • 10am GMT: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee questions South West Water and Yorkshire Water
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