Electricity pylons run across Romney Marsh in Kent from Dungeness nuclear power station. Photo: Gareth Fuller/PA Images via Getty Images
Residents in the U.K. will experience an 80% increase in their annual household energy bills, bringing average costs up from 1,971 pounds ($2,332) a year to 3,549 pounds ($4,197), the country’s energy regulator said Friday.
Driving the news: The price cap announced Friday will take effect Oct. 1, after which it is expected to increase again, CNBC reports.
- The price cap is the maximum standard charge that energy suppliers can bill domestic customers for their electricity and gas bills, taking into account wholesale market prices and other industry costs, CNBC notes.
- The price cap spans approximately 24 million houses in England, Scotland and Wales.
The big picture: Gas prices in Europe reached record levels over the last year, triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which drove up consumer prices.
- Europe gets 40% of its natural gas, crucial for heating homes, power generation and industrial activity on the continent, from Russia, Axios' Matt Phillips reports.
- The Bank of England has predicted that the U.K.'s inflation may peak at 13.3% in October, higher than the 11% previously predicted, driven particularly by rising energy prices, per CNBC.
- The country recoded a 40-year high of 10.1% in July, AP reports.
Go deeper ... Europe's natural gas problem gets worse