Millions of Brits to be hit by £400 fuel bill rise as Tesco warn of panic buying by Christmas
Fat cat firms profiteering from gas price rise crisis face windfall tax with ministers ‘looking at all options’ to help households facing bills rocketing £400 in winter of woe
Dozens of energy firms on brink after gas crisis causes suppliers to collapse Crisis is expected to hit millions of Britons after wholesale energy prices rise Tesco says to expect a return of panic buying and empty shelves by ChristmasThe UK’s largest supermarket chain revealed it is suffering shortfall of 800 expert HGV drivers, despite offering its new recruits a £1,000 bonus since July
<!–
<!–
<!–<!–
<!–
(function (src, d, tag){
var s = d.createElement(tag), prev = d.getElementsByTagName(tag)[0];
s.src = src;
prev.parentNode.insertBefore(s, prev);
}(“https://www.dailymail.co.uk/static/gunther/1.17.0/async_bundle–.js”, document, “script”));
<!–
DM.loadCSS(“https://www.dailymail.co.uk/static/gunther/gunther-2159/video_bundle–.css”);
<!–
Fat cat energy firms profiteering from the gas price crisis could face a windfall tax, with ministers ‘looking at all options’ to help households facing rocketing bills.
Millions of families pay paying more than £400 extra as the ongoing crisis causes further suppliers to collapse.
Two more energy firms with a combined 800,000 customers, Avro Energy and Green Supplier, went into administration yesterday.
Dozens of other companies are under threat including Bulb, which supplies 1.7million homes.
Customers on cheap tariffs with failed firms face being bumped up to the capped rate of £1,277 – a rise of at least £400.
Energy watchdog Ofgem described the situation as ‘unprecedented’ and confirmed bills would rise further, while Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng indicated the Government was considering a windfall tax to help fund the response.
The bleak warning came as food chiefs said supply problems caused by shortages of drivers and farm workers were deepening.
‘Our concern is that the pictures of empty shelves will get ten times worse by Christmas and then we’ll get panic buying,’ said Andrew Woolfenden of Tesco.
Twelve industry groups, led by the National Farmers’ Union, predicted the situation would get worse without a new visa regime to draw in foreign workers.
Customers with failing energy firms will be switched to new suppliers charging much higher tariffs, which is likely to add at least £400 extra to the cost of heat and light.
Meat manufacturers have warned that shoppers are likely to face higher prices as a result of the surge in CO2 costs
Two more energy firms with a combined 800,000 customers, Avro Energy and Green Supplier, went into administration yesterday. Dozens of other companies are under threat including Bulb, which supplies 1.7million homes
Firms are falling like dominoes as the result of the gas price shock. So far nine have gone bust this year, affecting around 1.9million homes.
Ofgem chief Jonathan Brearley told MPs yesterday: ‘We have already seen hundreds of thousands of customers affected and it could go well above that. This is something we have war-gamed and thought about.
‘The gas price is almost six times the level it was last year and, indeed, it rose by 70 per cent in August. So, we are in unprecedented cost territory.
‘The energy sector has faced shocks… but it really is something we have not seen before at this pace.
‘Unfortunately, when you see costs like this change, ultimately that will feed through to bills. Equally it is true that there are many suppliers under huge pressure now because of that dramatic change in their cost base.’
Adam Scorer, of the charity National Energy Action, said it was imperative to protect consumers and low-income households from the price rise. ‘Damage limitation is the priority for most customers at the moment,’ he added.
Customers with the failing energy firms have typically been paying £800 to £900 a year. But the switch to a new supplier will see them moved to a price cap figure set by Ofgem, which will be £1,277 for an average household from October 1.
And there are warnings that this figure could climb again – by as much as £280 a year – from next April when the cap is next reviewed. Mr Scorer said many of the worst hit by price rises were reliant on Universal Credit.
He described as ‘unconscionable’ the Government’s decision to remove a £20 uplift in the benefit from the start of next month.
Ministers are under pressure to protect the most vulnerable against the spike in the cost of heat and light over the coming months. This could include increasing the number entitled to receive the Warm Homes Discount, which is worth £140 a year.
The surge in wholesale prices is delivering riches to energy companies that own and sell gas and electricity to retail firms, who in turn sell it to homes and businesses.
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng indicated the Government was considering a windfall tax to help fund the response to the crisis.
Labour MP Darren Jones, chairman of the Commons business, energy and industrial strategy committee, said Spain had imposed a levy on ‘the generators and traders who are making very significant profits’ to fund protections for consumers.
Asked if that was a possibility here, Mr Kwarteng said: ‘We are looking at all options. What they are doing in Spain is recognising that it’s an entire system. I am in discussion with Ofgem and other officials, looking at all options.’
The trade body which represents suppliers, Energy UK, said the Government and regulators were warned two years ago that the market was fragile.
Chief executive Emma Pinchbeck said: ‘The point is, right now, we think that good, well-run companies will fail. And that’s a function of both the pricing shock but also market design.’
Her members say the cap on energy prices brought in by Theresa May’s government has played a part in the failure of some firms because they have to sell gas and electricity at a loss. But Mr Kwarteng insisted the cap must stay.
Chief executive of Citizens Advice, Dame Clare Moriarty, said the cut in Universal Credit was ‘coming at the worst possible time’. She added: ‘The Government has shown in this pandemic that it’s willing to support people through hard times. With a cost of living crisis under way, it must reverse the disastrous decision to cut this lifeline.’
At Prime Minister’s Questions, Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner challenged her opposite number, Dominic Raab, to guarantee no one would be pushed into fuel poverty this winter.
She accused the Government of hitting the pockets of working families by ‘cutting the income of a worker on £18,000 a year by over £1,100’ with tax rises.
Miss Rayner added: ‘That is almost exactly the same as an average annual energy bill.’