Rishi Sunak to give energy bills press conference in Downing Street today as Ofgem price cap set to soar

Chancellor Rishi Sunak will announce how he plans to tackle rising energy bills today as millions of households face soaring costs.

Mr Sunak is expected to outline his plans in a House of Commons statement at 11.30am and then later in a 5pm press conference.

What will Rishi Sunak announce?

Mr Sunak will commit to giving households in council tax bands A to C rebates funded by government grants under targeted measures to help poorer families, The Times reports.

The Treasury did not rule out the move nor did it deny that the Chancellor could announce state-backed loans which would give all homes a discount on their energy bills of £200.

Asked about the new support package, a government spokeswoman said: “We recognise people are facing pressures with the cost of living, which is why we are providing support worth around £12 billion this financial year and next.

“We will provide an update in due course on further help for households across the UK to meet their energy costs in the face of rising global gas prices.”

How much will the energy price cap go up?

The statement from the Chancellor will come just after energy regulator Ofgem is set to lift the energy price cap.

Ofgem is expected to announce at 11am on Thursday (3 February) that the energy price cap will rise by 50% due to soaring wholesale gas prices.

The hike means the average household energy bill could hit £1,915 from 1 April.

The cap would remain fixed at that level for six months, but could rise even further afterwards to nearly £2,000 per year.

Consultancy Cornwall Insight said that increase will affect 22 million households whose energy bills are tied to the price cap.

The price cap is based on the price of wholesale energy and supplier costs which have rocketed in recent months, meaning consumers are facing huge gas and electricity bills.

The energy regulator’s announcement had been scheduled for Monday (7 February) but officials, without stating why, decided to move it to 11am on Thursday.

Interest rates will also rise

Also on Thursday, the Bank of England is widely expected to raise interest rates from 0.25% to 0.5%, as the bank’s quarterly set of forecasts are likely to show eye-watering inflation this spring.

It would mark the Bank’s first back-to-back increase since June 2004 and comes after it lifted rates from 0.1% to 0.25% in December to try to rein in rampant inflation.

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