Overview

• The cap for a typical household will increase by about £35 to £1,755 a year from 1 October, even as wholesale prices have edged down around 2% over the past three months.
• Daily standing charges will rise by roughly 4% for electricity and 14% for gas, with the Government’s expanded Warm Home Discount taking the estimated number of recipients to 6.1 million.
• Ofgem says electricity balancing costs will add about £1.23 a month to bills, while NESO reported around £2.7 billion of system balancing costs in 2024/25, with wind curtailment a major component.
• Consumer advocate Martin Lewis warns higher standing charges will disproportionately hit low-use households and says some fixed deals currently undercut the cap by about 17% for many customers.
• Industry groups and commentators highlight that UK power prices remain among the highest internationally and warn of competitiveness risks, as the Government argues accelerating clean, homegrown power is the route to lower bills over time.