Half of UK households face fuel poverty this winter unless the government intervenes, according to EDF Energy UK senior executive Philippe Commaret.
He warned families across the country would suffer a “catastrophic winter” as fuel bills soar to triple the level of last winter.
The energy price cap has surged jaw-dropping amounts in recent months, and is set to climb to estimated heights of £5,000 per year by 2023 according to analysts.
Starting from October this year, all UK households will receive £400 towards fuel bills, with the lowest income eight million primed to receive an additional £650.
However, the small measure will do little to help the most vulnerable against the soaring energy costs, and experts as well as the Liberal Democrats and Labour have urgently called for more support, including a freeze on the energy price cap.
The rising cost of living has started to bite, with increased energy prices adding to the pain of higher food and consumer goods costs as inflation reaches 10.1%, with a rise to 13% expected in October 2022.
“When you look at the figures, without further support from the government, more than half of the UK households will be likely to be in fuel poverty in January,” said Commaret.
“Which means they will have to spend more than 10% of their disposable income to pay for their energy bill.”