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Households face £250 jump in energy bills within months

ended 18. March 2026

Energy UK is urging the Government to immediately step up efforts to ensure that any intervention to support customers is targeted at those most in need, it has announced.  

It said customers could face a rise of as much as £250 on their annual bill. 

This would still be some way short of the record bills seen following the invasion of Ukraine, but the longer the conflict goes on, the greater the risk that bills reach the levels at which the Government was compelled to subsidise bills for domestic and business customers back in 2022, Energy UK says.

Dhara Vyas, Energy UK’s Chief Executive, said: “Coming so soon after the last bill increase caused by global conflict, the impact of high and volatile gas prices on our energy system is a sharp reminder of our continuing vulnerability to such events. In the long term, investing in clean power technologies is the best insulation from further price shocks.”

He called for the government to intervene, adding: “It would help the country just as much outside a crisis as within one. Energy bills remain higher than they were before the invasion of Ukraine, and there is growing concern about record amounts of customer debt. Prioritising efforts to identify these customers is crucial for any potential emergency response and will also mean that we can ensure they are supported in the long term.”

Responses asap please.

  • What will an extra £250 a year on bills do for cost of living crisis?
  • Should the government step in and help with bills?
  • Should we drill North Sea oil or invest in renewables?
     

3 responses from the Newspage community

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Nouran Moustafa
Practice Principal & IFA at Roxton Wealth
My reaction is that an extra £250 a year is not a small nuisance, it is another hit to households already exhausted by bills that never seem to settle. For people on tighter budgets, that is not “just” energy inflation, that is food, transport and breathing space disappearing again. I do think the Government should step in, but it has to be targeted at the people who genuinely need help most, not a blanket fix that sprays money everywhere. Reuters reports ministers are already considering targeted support rather than a universal bailout, while Energy UK says bills could rise by as much as £250 if wholesale pressure persists.
On the bigger question, drilling more North Sea oil might sound like a quick political answer, but it does not solve the UK’s deeper problem, which is exposure to volatile global fossil fuel markets. The smarter long-term answer is investing harder in renewables and energy resilience, because that is how you reduce vulnerability to shocks like this.
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Dariusz Karpowicz
Director at Albion Financial Advice
An extra £250 a year sounds manageable until you stack it on top of everything else. Council tax up, food still rising, wages barely keeping pace. For millions of households, this is not about one bill; it is about a cost of living squeeze that never properly ended after 2022.
Government support needs to exist, but it has to reach the right people. Blanket subsidies burn cash. Targeted help for those already drowning in energy debt makes far more sense. On the bigger question, more North Sea drilling keeps us tied to the same global price swings that caused this mess. Investing in renewables is slower, yes, but it is the only route to bills that stop reacting to every geopolitical tremor.
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Rohit Parmar-Mistry
Founder at Pattrn Data
An extra £250 a year is not just another price rise. For many households it is the difference between staying current and falling into arrears, especially given existing energy debt and higher food and housing costs.

Government support should be targeted and fast. The mistake in a shock is blanket subsidies that leak to people who do not need them while vulnerable customers wait. Use existing benefit and vulnerability markers, and let suppliers apply automatic credits with simple audit trails.

On the North Sea versus renewables question, the short term truth is uncomfortable: more domestic supply does not quickly insulate households from global gas prices. The medium term answer is reducing exposure: clean power, flexibility, storage, and energy efficiency.

The operational priority is resilience. Treat energy affordability as a financial health issue, track arrears, and intervene early. When bills spike, the downstream cost shows up in debt, rent arrears and NHS demand.