Call to end ‘cruel’ winter rises as energy bills go up by £100 a year | Fuel poverty

Midwinter energy price increases should be abolished to protect households from unaffordable bills “at the worst possible time”, according to a coalition of leading charities.

Charities and campaign groups have called on Ofgem, the energy regulator, to scrap future January bill increases as it prepares to raise the cap on energy prices by 5% from Monday.

The cap, which is updated every three months, reflects how much a typical household would pay for its energy if the new rate were applied for a full year – but bills can be higher if households use more than the national average.

The…