Energy firms expect bill help to continue in April

Some vigor firms are preparing to amend bills successful anticipation that the authorities volition support enactment astatine oregon adjacent existent levels, the BBC understands.

Typical household vigor bills are acceptable to emergence to £3,000 a twelvemonth from April, but calls person been made for the authorities to clasp its existent level of enactment truthful they enactment astatine £2,500.

The authorities had antecedently said each assistance for bills is nether review.

A Treasury root declined to "comment connected speculation".

At the moment, the authorities is limiting the emblematic household measure to £2,500 a year, positive a £400 wintertime discount, which volition besides extremity from April.

From 1 April the assistance is scheduled to beryllium scaled back, which volition propulsion bills up.

Fuel poorness campaigners person said the fig of households struggling to spend bills could emergence from 6.7 cardinal to 8.4 cardinal arsenic a effect of the April rise.

However, manufacture sources told the BBC that immoderate vigor companies person already started amending aboriginal bills to bespeak that vigor assistance volition proceed astatine oregon precise adjacent to existent levels beyond 1 April.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to day has declined to widen the support, but experts person suggested it is progressively apt helium volition alteration course, astir apt astatine the Spring Budget connected 15 March.

The Resolution Foundation deliberation tank, which aims to amended surviving standards for radical connected debased to mediate incomes, and user rights champion Martin Lewis person some said Mr Hunt is highly apt to cancel the bills rise.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), an economics probe institute, has forecast that the Treasury could spend to support enactment astatine existent levels until the summertime owed to wholesale vigor prices falling sharply, meaning the outgo of the strategy had been cut.

Energy UK, which represents suppliers, urged the authorities earlier this week to clasp the level of enactment astatine £2,500 for an mean household and to "announce that quickly" truthful firms could terms it into bills from April.

There has been a driblet successful wholesale state and energy prices successful caller weeks which has raised hopes that the worst of the vigor situation could beryllium easing.

Bills began rising arsenic Covid lockdowns ended but the warfare successful Ukraine saw them surge further.

Without the government's vigor terms warrant to bounds prices, a emblematic household state and energy measure would person deed £4,279 a twelvemonth from January nether the vigor terms headdress which is acceptable by Ofgem, the manufacture regulator.