(MENAFN- Baystreet.ca) UK Grim Prospects Over Surging Energy Bills Just Got Worse
UK households will be paying much higher energy bills, which will rise not only because of high power and gas prices but also because of the collapse of Bulb, the biggest victim of the energy crisis so far, according to the UK's energy regulator Ofgem, cited by Bloomberg.
The energy crisis and soaring wholesale power and natural gas prices claimed its biggest victim so far in the UK when Bulb, a power and gas supplier serving 1.7 million customers, said at the end of November that it would enter into special administration.
The collapse of Bulb, and more than 20 other energy providers in the UK since the summer, will cost a UK household between $106 (80 pounds) and $113 (85 pounds) on top of their energy bills next year and in 2023, according to the regulator's initial assessment of the cost of the crisis.
This crisis is not over yet, with winter coming and threatening to put more suppliers out of business.
Two dozen power and gas suppliers in the UK have already exited the retail energy market, and more are likely to do so. Another 20 energy providers in the UK could go bust in what looks like a“massacre” in the coming months unless the government reviews the energy price cap, Keith Anderson, chief executive at one of the largest providers, ScottishPower, said last month.
High energy prices drove inflation in the UK to a 10-year high in October. The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose by 4.2 percent in the 12 months to October 2021, up from 3.1 percent in September, the Office for National Statistics said. Energy is expected to fuel additional price hikes next year when the energy regulator is set to raise the so-called price cap on energy bills.
Nearly half of Britons worry more about their soaring energy bills than the COVID pandemic and a potential new wave in the UK, a poll for MailOnline showed last month. As colder temperatures in the winter approach, a total of 49 percent of Brits polled said they were more concerned about high gas and electricity bills than COVID, according to the survey by Redfield and Wilton Strategies for MailOnline.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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