Households have been warned to brace themselves for even worse-than-feared energy price hikes in the spring - as expert forecast average bills could hit £2,200 by next winter.
Respected consultants Cornwall Insight updated its estimates on Monday, after a further rise in wholesale energy costs.
Average bills already soared to £1,277 at the start of October for 15 million households after regulator Ofgem upped a price cap to allow suppliers to claw back some of those higher costs.
But Cornwall says the average could rocket by nearly 50% to £1,865 when the price cap is next due to change in April.
It said: “With wholesale prices having surged beyond the records seen at the start of October due to ongoing supply concerns for electricity and gas, geopolitical pressures affecting the European gas market and colder weather associated with the winter season, our forecasts reflect these prevailing conditions.”
And it warned there was a risk that by next October, when the price cap is currently scheduled to be reviewed again, the average could have spiralled to £2,240 a year - or nearly £1,000 more than now.
Cornwall Insight also warned the cost of a flood of energy supplier failures stands at £2.4billion - or £90 per household.
Nearly 30 suppliers have collapsed this year, victims of soaring wholesale costs and risky business models in some cases.
Customers of those firms have been transferred to other suppliers, but those firms can claim their costs back.
Dr Craig Lowrey, senior consultant, at Cornwall Insight, said: “With Ofgem examining a wide range of potential reforms to both the cap and the way in which the costs associated with supplier failures are recovered, we note that there is still a large amount of uncertainty relating to the level and structure of the cap.
“However, with the energy supply sector still dealing with the exit of more than two dozen companies in a matter of weeks, the need to ensure resilience across the entire market is evident.
“Furthermore, it is not solely domestic customers that are dealing with these new highs in energy costs, as businesses will face their own set of challenges without the protection afforded by the default tariff price cap.”
