Citizens Advice responds to the latest price cap by Ofgem
Responding to the latest Ofgem price cap, Dame Clare Moriarty, Chief Executive at Citizens Advice, said:
“This drop in energy prices will ease the burden of high bills for some households. But the government must not lose perspective: bills will still be 52% higher than before the energy crisis and nearly seven million people live in households that have fallen behind on bills.
“Today’s announcement will be cold comfort to the millions paying off a mountain of debt on top of their monthly costs.
“The government has said it hopes to provide more support to pensioners this winter, but we know that people with children are often struggling most of all with energy. It must provide more targeted energy bill support to those hardest hit, and upgrade five million homes with money-saving energy efficiency measures.
“Our recent research laid bare the billions in excess profits enjoyed by energy network companies while households have faced soaring bills. It’s only right this money be used to help fund better targeted bill support for hard-pressed consumers.”
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Additional information
Citizens Advice research from February 2025 shows:
6.7 million people in Great Britain are living in a household in debt to their energy supplier.
Nearly two thirds (64%) in energy debt say they’ve had to ration energy in the last year, including switching off or turning down heating or water as a result of their debt. That’s equal to 4.45 million people.
Three in ten (30%) households said they find it difficult to afford their energy bills, equal to over 8.3 million households or nearly 20 million people.
Energy network company profits:
Citizens Advice has found energy network companies, which provide pipes and cables to people’s homes, have pocketed nearly £4 billion in excess profits over the last four years.
The charity wants network companies to use the money to support those struggling with rising costs, by funding targeted energy bill support and debt write-off schemes.
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Notes to editors:
Citizens Advice’s report, 'Frozen in Place: Why the Government needs to move quicker to address energy affordability' is available online. It is based on research from the charity, with polling carried out by Yonder Data Solutions.
Survey data is based on an online representative poll of 2014 GB adults conducted by Yonder Data Solutions for Citizens Advice. Fieldwork conducted between 26th January and 13th February. Scaling up is based on the most recent estimate of GB households of approximately 28 million, and an average household size of 2.36 people. In addition to the nationally representative sample, Yonder also provided boosted numbers for Scotland and Wales, and boosts for low-income households, households with children, and pensioners.
Citizens Advice’s report, 'Debt to society: what the network companies should do with their windfall profits', is available on the Citizens Advice website. Network company outperformance figures are taken from the company reporting to Ofgem. Total debt outperformance reported to date from the current price control is £3.9bn (adjusted to 2023/4 prices). Company performance data is available on the Ofgem website.
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