Energy bills are anticipated to rise once again in April after a planned hike comes into force with the New Year on Wednesday.
According to consultancy Cornwall Insight, Ofgem’s energy price cap is expected to be set at £1,785 from April, which would mark a 3% increase on January’s level.
Regulator Ofgem announced last month that the cap, which determines how much dual fuel users pay per unit of energy, would rise by 1.2% to £1,738 from January.
Under this, households will pay 24.86p and 6.34p per kilowatt hour of electricity and gas respectively, alongside daily standing charges of 60.97p and 31.65p for each.
Cornwall Insight on Tuesday forecast prices would rise to 25.93p for electricity and 6.61p for gas from April, and that standing charges would change to around 56p and 33p respectively.
“Early December saw a slight dip in wholesale energy prices, driven by easing supply tensions in Europe,” analysts noted.
“However, geopolitical instability saw prices rebound in the second half of December, with the market surging last week due to new uncertainty over the Ukraine transit deal and the higher level of withdrawals from EU gas storage facilities.
“These factors, combined with the significant uncertainty over the US liquified natural gas export plans under a second Trump presidency, mean we are expecting that our cap forecasts will continue to display a high degree of variability.”