Power to slash fuel bills is in your hands

ENERGY bills have been the nation’s unrelenting headache ever since global gas volatility started rattling the market back in early 2021. While things seemed to be looking up last summer — thanks to consecutive drops in Ofgem’s quarterly price cap due to an easing market — the relief was short-lived. Rates began creeping up again in the autumn, and now we're feeling the sting once again.

- by Katie Elliott

On April 1, Ofgem’s latest price cap hike pushed average energy bills up by £111 a year for a typical dual-fuel household on a standard tariff. That’s a blow for many, alongside a wave of other cost rises from car costs to council tax - squeezing budgets this month.

Households on fixed-rate energy deals where you lock in your unit prices for a set period managed to dodge some of the recent increases. But only for now. New figures from Uswitch reveal that around 418,000 households will see their fixed tariffs come to an end this month. If they don’t take action, they'll be automatically rolled onto a standard variable tariff, which is currently among the most expensive on the market.