The cost of an average family’s annual energy bill could reach nearly £5,300 from April if current sky-high wholesale prices for gas and electricity do not fall soon.
In a new forecast, models designed by experts at energy consultancy Auxilione predicted that the price cap on energy bills could reach £3,628 in October, from £1,971 today.
It could then rise again to £4,538 in January and peak at £5,277 in April.
This is the worst forecast yet for the millions of households set to face crippling bills this winter.
In response, a people’s revolt against spiralling energy costs is growing.
The movement has surpassed the 100,000 sign-up mark and is almost at 104,000.
Don’t Pay UK, which launched in June this year, said its campaign had reached “millions of people” and the support received so far “demonstrates the anger and frustration at a broken energy system that needs to be drastically transformed for the interests of people”.
“In just a few weeks, over 100,000 of us from across the country have come together to say we will refuse to be pushed into fuel poverty and we no longer want to pay for the profits of the energy companies,” they said.
“We are building the biggest mass non-payment campaign since the Poll Tax and we are showing the powers that be that our collective power will force an end to this crisis.”
Their plan is as follows:
It’s simple: we are demanding a reduction of energy bills to an affordable level. Our leverage is that we will gather a million people to pledge not to pay if the government goes ahead with another massive hike on October 1st.
Mass non-payment is not a new idea, it happened in the UK in the late 80s and 90s, when more than 17 million people refused to pay the Poll Tax – helping bring down the government and reversing its harshest measures.
Even if a fraction of those of us who are paying by direct debit stop our payments, it will be enough to put energy companies in serious trouble, and they know this. We want to bring them to the table and force them to end this crisis. Here’s how we think we can get there:
Related: Price cap predictions hiked again as Liz Truss slams windfall taxes
