Households are expected to pay £1,714 per year for their energy in the three-month period, according to Cornwall Insight’s last forecast for 2024.
The energy price cap is also set to continue rising into January next year, although this will be a “modest rise” compared to the October to December period.
As it stands, the cap is £1,568 for a typical household, based on Ofgem’s typical use, which is set at 2,700kWh per annum for electricity and 11,500kWh per annum for gas.
In October, electricity usage will come to £886.67 on average, while gas will be £826.96.
After a couple of years of falling energy prices for customers, there has been a steady rise in wholesale market prices, said the think tank, due to “recent tensions” during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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It follows the scrapping of the Winter Fuel Payment for around 10 million pensioners, unless they receive a range of benefits.
The relevant benefits that allow you to receive the £200 payment (if you were born between 23 September 1944 and 23 September 1958) are Pension Credit, Universal Credit, Income Support, income-related Employment or Support Allowance or Jobseeker’s Allowance. The payment rises to £300 if you were born before 23 September 1944.
After Rachel Reeves announced the decision, Age UK launched a petition against the change, which has so far garnered 412,000 signatures.
The petition states that it strongly opposes the means-testing of the help, “as two million pensioners who badly need the money will not receive it”.
Cornwall Insight also called on the Government and Ofgem (which sets the price cap) to protect the vulnerable in the short term from rising energy bills.
‘Not the news households want to hear’
Dr Craig Lowrey, principal consultant at Cornwall Insight, described the updated forecast as “not the news households want to hear when moving into the colder months”.
He also said that it’s unlikely that bills will return to “what was once considered normal” and that “without significant intervention, this may well be the new normal.”
Lowrey said: “The Government will need to adopt a two-pronged approach to tackle rising energy bills. Immediate action is needed to ease the financial burden on households – such as the introduction of social tariffs, or reform of the price cap – but that’s only part of the solution. We must also develop a long-term strategy to secure our energy future.”
Ofgem is currently working on a consultation to revise the way the energy price cap is calculated, based on the time of day households use energy.
Lowrey has called for an overhaul of the energy system, “with a strong emphasis on increasing domestic energy production.”
He added: “Simply waiting for prices to drop on their own isn’t an option; we need a proactive and forward-thinking approach to ensure long lasting energy affordability and security.”
