Families reported energy meters charging 65 1.65 an hour while taking a shower and being forced to sit in “three T-shirts and a blanket” to stop their bills soaring. April saw an unprecedented rise in the energy price ceiling as the government tried to account for rising wholesale prices and an expected ripple from Russia’s war in Ukraine. Barry Norman, a retired civil engineer from Kent, ran out of his 3 3 daily budget until noon today as he prepared to double his usual energy bill by midnight. “Throughout the winter I managed to stay below £ 3 a day for petrol – I know it was a cold day, but no more than the depths of winter,” he told i. Norman, 61, lives in a well-insulated bungalow and is already actively managing his energy use. “I have recently retired and I was looking forward to taking care of myself after more than 40 years of work,” he said. “My concern is for next winter, especially with another increase possible in October. “Today was a taste of what to expect on a cold day.”
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The 54 percent increase in the energy price cap means that some 18 million households will now pay 69 693 more for standard gas and electricity bills each year, according to Ofgem. A household that uses a standard amount of gas and electricity will now pay 97 1,971 a year, according to the Energy Monitoring Service. This means that they will now pay an average of 40 5.40 per day on gas and electricity, up from 50 3.50 before the price increase. The Resolution Foundation’s think tank estimates that an additional 2.5 million households in the UK will be “stressed out” as a result, which means they will soon be spending at least 10 per cent of their household budget on energy bills. Smart cash users were the first to face the real cost of raising the energy ceiling, with the most expensive currency cash users – around 4.5 million customers – experiencing even bigger increases. Martin Stegal, a British gas service engineer from Bury-St-Edmunds, said he was “thinking of disconnecting” his smart meter as rising energy costs heightened concerns in the face of a worsening cost-of-life crisis. “I think moving it away from the eyes can make it feel a little better, even if we can do nothing about price increases,” he told i. “I have already arranged to work overtime in the coming months to help with expenses. “My youngest daughter is 14 and she is looking for how she can save some extra money to help.” Mr Steggall, 48, added that reports that Chancellor Rishi Sunak could fly to California during the Easter holidays were “a real kick in the teeth”. “I wish he could go out with me one day and go back to people’s homes and see what they have to limit. “Some of them are 80 or 90 years old and they are freezing,” he said. “The government lives on a different planet. Others said they were “hurt” and “sick” as their smart meters showed gas and electricity prices doubled, and sometimes tripled, to normal today. Several users reported obvious technical problems as the new price cap went into effect, with a man’s smart meter claiming to have spent .5 41,532.39 on energy until 7am. Ovo Energy said the meter reading was an error. It comes as almost half of adults were already struggling to pay their energy bills before the biggest jump in live memory prices took effect this week, according to official figures. About 43 per cent of adults in Britain who pay energy bills say they already find it difficult to keep up with their payments in March, according to the National Statistics Office (ONS). The chancellor is facing growing calls to do more to reduce the cost-of-living crisis, amid concerns that poorer households will be forced to choose between buying food and heating their homes in the coming months. Citizens Advice CEO Dame Clare Moriarty said the rise in energy prices would be “potentially catastrophic for millions of people across the country”. “The support that has been announced so far by the government is simply not enough for those who will be most affected,” he said. “With the long-awaited price increases hitting now, many more people will be faced with the kind of shocking choices that our consultants already see very often on the front lines.” Paul Massara, former CEO of energy company Npower, called for a further support package from the Treasury Department to help struggling families. “The government must intervene,” he told BBC Radio 4 today. “Government action to date – 150 150 tax cut and 200 200 loan [for energy bills]- honestly not enough. And it is very poorly targeted for those who are most in need. “
