Ofgem will officially reveal how much the UK’s energy price cap will rise by this autumn next Friday.
The anticipated change, which will likely involve further energy bill increases above the last seasonal price cap on household energy tariffs, will come into force in October.
It is estimated that the price cap will be lifted to about £3,582 per year at the next revision, according to a note from AJ Bell that cited Ofgem data.
This would be a huge increase on the £1,971 per year price cap on energy bills that was brought in at the last seasonal review in April.
That was already a significant leap from the £1,277 cap set last October, which was the highest cap since at least January 2019.
Some analysts predict energy bills could rise to as much as £4,000 a year or more as a result of Ofgem’s decision to switch to quarterly rather than seasonal reviews of the price cap.
Thirty energy companies, including the country’s seventh-largest producer Bulb, went bust last year because of soaring wholesale energy prices, which they were unable to pass on to consumers within the price cap threshold.
High natural gas prices played a huge part in pushing UK inflation to a 40-year high, according to analysts at AJ Bell.
Octopus Energy has expressed interest in buying Bulb out of administration through a government-backed deal.
“With the gas market still volatile and a lot of questions about Russian supply during the winter months it’s not surprising that Octopus has been the only party expressing an interest in taking on Bulb,” said AJ Bell’s investment director Russ Mould.
He said many other operators have had to take on more customers than originally planned, which has come at a costly price.