Energy bills: NHS chief warns of 'more deaths' due to the cold

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According to the experts, millions of households are on a countdown to catastrophe unless urgent action is taken on energy bills. Half of all households face being plunged into fuel poverty if nothing is done, industry chiefs claim.

The Treasury is believed to be considering a taxpayer-backed energy fund as part of an unprecedented package of measures as Ofgem gets set to announce its latest energy price cap rise on Friday.

The new cap is expected to hike standard tariffs by around 80 percent to £3,554 from October 1 to allow suppliers to claw back a surge in wholesale energy costs amid Russia’s continuing war in Ukraine.

That could jump to nearly £4,700 a year in January – and even £6,552 in April, according to consultancy Auxilione.

Keith Anderson of energy giant Scottish Power told the Mirror the expected price cap rise will be “absolutely catastrophic, truly horrific”.

He added: “We can’t allow that to go through to people’s bills. We need to cap the price, freeze the price at about the current level.”

A freeze could also limit a surge in inflation, tipped to hit 18 percent in January, as it is the biggest single driver.

Philippe Commaret of EDF Energy UK warned that, without further support, families face a “catastrophic winter”. He said half the nation’s households face fuel poverty this winter unless the government does more to help with bills.

But Tory leadership frontrunner Liz Truss last night rebuffed desperate calls to “fully protect” households from rising bills.

She told a hustings in Birmingham her first priority is cutting taxes and her second is boosting energy supply.

However, Mr Sunak said her plans will do nothing to “help poorer people and pensioners”. He added: “Millions of people are going to face the risk of destitution this winter.

“And if we don’t do anything to avert that I think it would be a moral failure of the Conservative government.”

Households are considered to be in fuel poverty if they have to spend 10 percent or more of their income on energy.

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Shadow Defence Secretary John Healey said: “What’s needed now is immediate, urgent action to help people deal with the emergency that they face over energy costs.”

Rocio Concha of consumer group Which? said: “Failure to act could mean countless more people are pushed into the impossible choice between heating or eating this winter.”

Taxpayer-backed loans could allow suppliers to freeze energy prices at their current level – already nearly £2,000 a year on average.

The commercial loans, backed by taxpayers, would enable network operators to offset the spike in wholesale costs.

Funding the scheme directly from the government is seen as unlikely. One suggestion is that the loans would be repaid through customer bills, potentially over 10 to 15 years.

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