Citizens Advice responds to Ofgem's price cap announcement

More support needed despite falling energy bills, says Citizens Advice

Responding to today’s Ofgem price cap announcement, Dame Clare Moriarty, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, said:

“The fall in the price cap provides some desperately needed respite for households but energy bills will still be nearly double what they were just 18 months ago. That’s unaffordable for millions of households.

“For many, life is getting worse, not better. Year on year we're breaking records for the number of people struggling with energy debt.

“It’s clear more government support will be needed in the future for struggling households.”

Background: 

  • The number of people who can't afford to top up their prepayment meter has skyrocketed, with 10 times more people seeking our help between January and April 2023 (15,000) compared with 2020 (1,500).

  • Last year we helped more people unable to top up their prepayment meter than the previous ten years combined. 

  • A record number of people came to the charity with energy debt in the first four months of 2023 (32,400) - a 112% increase on the same period in 2020 (15,200).

  • Citizens Advice helped a record number of people (94,000) with food bank referrals and access to emergency charitable grants this year. This is a 178% increase on the same period in 2020, and includes the support needed by a record number of people in work.

Notes to editors

  1. Citizens Advice is made up of the national charity Citizens Advice; the network of independent local Citizens Advice charities across England and Wales; the Citizens Advice consumer service; and the Witness Service.

  2. Our network of charities offers impartial advice online, over the phone, and in person, for free.

  3. Citizens Advice helped 2.55 million people face to face, over the phone, by email and webchat in 2021-22. And we had 40.6 million visits to our website. For full service statistics see our monthly publication Advice trends.

  4. Citizens Advice service staff are supported by more than 18,500 trained volunteers, working at over 2,500 service outlets across England and Wales.

  5. You can get consumer advice from the Citizens Advice consumer service on 0808 223 1133 or 0808 223 1144 for Welsh language speakers.