One of the United Kingdom’s largest energy suppliers, E.On UK has warned that about 40 per cent of its customers will be in fuel poverty by October 2022, calling on the UK government to help save the situation.
Accordung to the Chief Executive of E.On UK, Michael Lewis, the rise in energy prices is “unprecedented” and a growing number of its customers are in arrears.
Lewis noted that around a fifth of its customers were already in fuel poverty. He however revealed that this figure is expected to rise significantly later in the year.
“In my 30 years in the energy industry I’ve never ever seen prices increasing at this rate,” Lewis noted.
He added that around one in eight of its customers were already struggling to pay their bills, even before the weather turns colder and the new energy price cap comes into force in October, which is expected to rise significantly.
“We do need more intervention in October and it has to be very substantial,” he told the BBC’s Sunday Programme.
Investors King gathered that Energy regulator, Ofgem lifted the price cap on gas and electricity bills in April, adding around £700 to the average household energy bill to take it to £1,971.
For the 4.5 million people on pre-payment meters – which are typically used by people on lower incomes – the price of energy has now risen further, by an average £708, to £2,017 a year.
Due to the rising cost of wholesale gas, however, the price cap is expected to increase and take the typical energy bill to as much as £2,800, if not higher.
Following the rise of gas and electricity prices in April, the UK’s inflation rate reached a 40-year high of nine per cent.
A household is considered to be in fuel poverty if it has to spend 10 per cent or more of its disposable income on energy.
Recently, Shell reported a record £7bn profit in the first three months of this year while BP made £5bn, the highest for 10 years.