Good Morning Britain delivered a gut-wrenching breaking news announcement about the energy price cap on Friday morning – but of course, Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis was on hand to help viewers save money despite a rise in prices.
It was originally thought that energy regulator Ofgem would announce a drop in the price cap today, but instead, there is going to be a 0.2% increase from January. The ITV show shared that the changes will be costing most families on average an extra 28p per month in their energy bills. This means that, from 1st January, bills for most households will increase to around £1,758 a year. Martin Lewis shared his knowledge and advised what people who will be struggling with the increased costs should do next. Speaking to hosts Kate Garraway and Adil Ray, he explained: “When you look at the actual prices, electricity prices are going to rise substantially on January 1 for those who are on the energy price cap.”
He added: “Now remember you are on the energy price cap, the ‘do nothing’ tariff, if you’re not on a special tariff or if you came off a fixed or special deal and you didn’t go and get a new deal, then you’re on the energy price cap. If you’re on a fixed tariff, this doesn’t apply to you.”
The consumer champion then went on to explain that electricity unit rates for someone on standard direct debit are going up from 26.3p to 27.7p. “That’s a rise of 5.1%, not 0.2%,” he pointed out.
Martin then shared that the electricity standing charge, a fixed daily fee on a utility bill, is going up by about 1p which is up 2%. The gas unit rate is going down by 5.7% and the gas standing charge is rising by 3%.
He continued: “So, what you have is energy prices going up and gas prices coming down. Someone who is a heavy electricity user, and doesn’t use gas, is likely to see on average a 3 or 4% rise coming in January.”
Martin then hit out at Keir Starmer‘s Labour government, branding the rises as “perverse”.
He noted that the government are working out ways to get UK households to move away from gas and use more electricity. However, they are now making electricity more expensive and gas cheaper.
Over on Twitter, Martin advised: “The best move for most people is to get onto a comparison site like http://cheapenergyclub.com and find yourself a cheap fix (though im hearing a couple of cheaper tariffs may launch next week so you may want to hold until then) which are currently 10% less than price cap (especially as april cap predicted to rise 4 to 5%). Also some good time of use and EV tariffs too.”