The price that energy suppliers can charge for a unit of electricity and gas will be increasing from January 2023 to 67p per kilowatt hour for electricity, and 17p for gas. Under the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG), the result of this increase would mean that the average family would have to pay £4,279 without Government support. Currently, the scheme limits the maximum price charged by energy suppliers at 34p per unit for electricity and 10.3p for gas. Current estimates place the total cost of limiting the price consumers pay at a staggering £42bn, and as a result, the Government is planning a £25m campaign to encourage Brits to reduce their energy consumption.

Mark Sait, CEO of SaveMoneyCutCarbon – Britain’s leading sustainability and energy-saving platform – has argued that Britain’s energy usage does indeed need to reduce by 15% – in line with the Chancellor’s vision for affording the accelerated cost of energy – but consumers need greater clarity on how this is achieved.

“The key focus to take away is that although the cap will remain in April 2023, the cap only relates to the unit price. So, the maximum your energy company can charge you is for your unit of energy. What they are doing is capping the unit price, not how much you can use. This messaging can be confusing to consumers as although the cap remains, it still means we ought to be changing how we use our energy.

“The Chancellor has brought this to the public’s attention by outlining that we need to cut energy demands by 15%, but what is not clear is how.

“There are so many different grants and government schemes that people can access that it can get confusing knowing where to begin. I recommend going to Citizen’s Advice as a place to start. What the public really needs, however, is clear and transparent guidance and support.

“What needs to happen is finding a way to be smarter with energy use. This can start with the least cost-effective way – behaviour. I.e. not just turning your heating off but checking when your timer is set, and switching off appliances/boilers that aren’t in use. Or, it can be low-cost, sustainable swaps. The most obvious is a swap to the LED lightbulb – you will be using fewer units of energy and it works out to be a big saving. Small changes make a big difference. Not everyone can afford big solar panels, electric cars and so on, so education, behaviour change, community and coming together will make the biggest difference. There’s always more to be done on our end – people just need the facts to know where to begin.”