ENGLAND — Ofgem announced a 13% increase to the quarterly energy price cap for England, Wales, and Scotland, effective July 2, 2025. This adjustment will raise the annual equivalent of the average energy bill to £1,862.

The price cap increase follows a surge in wholesale energy prices, which will affect consumers from July 1, 2025. These elevated prices are expected to persist until the subsequent price cap adjustment at the start of October.

Prior to the week of June 23, 2025, unpaid energy bills increased by £240 million over three months, according to data from Ofgem. Consumer energy debt reached approximately £4.8 billion, marking an all-time high.

James Mabey, a policy analyst at National Energy Action, stated, "The consequences of energy debt include cold homes, rising anxiety and impossible choices about essentials. The right response is to scale debt relief."

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has previously indicated that universal energy support will not be offered. Meanwhile, Good Energy has called for the government to shift the cost of supporting government policies from energy bills and incorporate them into general taxation. The company also advocated for an increase of £300 in payments through the warm home discount scheme, making them £450 for six million vulnerable households. According to Good Energy, their proposal, combined with recent government measures, could reduce household costs by £270 annually.

Good Energy stated that their proposal could save the Treasury approximately £10.1 billion, while saving a typical bill payer £76 per year, and vulnerable households £376 annually. The company has also joined calls for the government to separate expensive gas power from the overall electricity market price. This would involve putting gas plants into a strategic reserve and out of the market. Under these plans, generators would receive a steady fixed rate to operate their gas plants only as a last resort, potentially saving households up to £60 a year and being implementable within two years, based on analysis by Greenpeace and Stonehaven consultants.

A government spokesperson said, "We have taken £150 of costs off energy bills for the years ahead and extended the warm home discount to around 6 million households." The spokesperson also added, "We are going further and faster to move on to homegrown energy we control, including taking decisive action to break the influence of gas on electricity prices, to better protect households from energy crises."