Dire Warning: Energy Bills Could Double

‘Enormous crisis' will push prices to £2,000 per year, warns fuel boss

- Macer Hall

SOARING gas and electricity bills will cause an “enormous crisis” next year.

One fuel boss said average domestic energy charges may double to £2,000.

Stephen Fitzpatrick, chief executive of Ovo, urged ministers to do more to tackle the soaring costs for consumers.

Campaigners for older bill-payers last night backed his call for action from the Government as fears grew that more pensioners will be forced to make a bleak choice between paying for heating or eating this winter.

Mr Fitzpatrick spoke out ahead of a conference call which saw energy firm chiefs and officials from the industry regulator Ofgem hold discussions with Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng yesterday.

Their talks followed data from the Office of National Statistics showing that average household electricity bills were nearly 19 per cent higher in October and November than during the same months last year.

Gas bills soared by an eye-watering 28 per cent over the same period.

At the meeting, the energy firm bosses were understood to have pushed for tax cuts and a relaxation of green levies. While the call did not lead to any breakthrough, Cabinet minister Mr Kwarteng agreed to continue discussions on measures to overhaul the energy market.

Mr Fitzpatrick raised the alarm in an interview with the BBC yesterday, saying there had been nowhere near enough urgency” from the Government, even as soaring wholesale costs threatened an enormous crisis for 2022.