UK warned it is still too reliant on gas to absorb price shocks

Britain is at risk of experiencing a repeat of the sharp increase in energy costs that has fuelled the cost of living crisis owing to an over-reliance on gas, an expert panel of industry leaders has warned.

- Jillian Ambrose

The Energy Crisis Commission said the UK was still "dangerously underprepared" for another crisis because it continued to rely on gas for its power plants and home heating.

The newly formed commission consists of representatives from the business groups Energy UK and the CBI, the consumer group Citizens Advice and the fuel poverty charity National Energy Action.

It used its first report to say that too little progress had been made in insulating homes and scaling up the installation of heat pumps since the UK economy was rocked by recordhigh gas prices.

The energy crisis began in late 2021 as rising gas prices led to 29 household suppliers going bust. Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 sent wholesale prices soaring, forcing the UK government to step in to subsidise energy bills.

Adam Scorer, the head of National Energy Action, a fuel poverty charity, said the risk of future crises was real and would "hit hardest those less able to withstand price shocks".