AVERAGE household energy bills will likely rise by 5 per cent in April, energy consultancy Cornwall Insight said today.

The group said it expects regulator Ofgem to increase the energy price cap by £85 to £1,823 for a typical household, due to an increase in wholesale gas prices across Europe.

Warm this Winter spokeswoman Caroline Simpson warned that the public is largely unaware that electricity bills are chained to gas prices.

“This over reliance on gas, both for our heating and in setting the electricity price, is why we saw huge hikes in bills four years ago and why prices are set to rise again,” she said.

“Instead, the public are being told by some politicians that net-zero and green policies are to blame, which couldn’t be further from the truth — we need to stop gaslighting people.

“Our bills are high and the ones who benefit are greedy gas and oil companies making billions.”

End Fuel Poverty Coalition co-ordinator Simon Francis said: “As volatile energy bills continue to be set by our reliance on global wholesale markets and driven by the cost of gas, it is even more vital that we see moves towards sustainable, cheaper, renewable energy.”

Ofgem is set to next confirm its quarterly price cap next Tuesday, February 25.

Fuel Poverty Action’s Jonathan Bean said: “Ofgem has signed off on profits for shareholders and huge pay packets for energy bosses — but when it comes to protecting us from being ripped off, they’re nowhere to be seen.

“They've failed to scrap cruel standing charges despite the clear verdict of their own consultation, and failed to tackle hugely inflated electricity prices — four times more expensive than gas.”

National Energy Action chief executive Adam Scorer called for further action from the government, including additional targeted energy bill support through a social tariff or an expanded Warm Home Discount, a help-to-repay scheme to support households out of debt and for the government’s Warm Homes Plan.

The Department for Energy said that rising energy bills are a “direct result of Britain’s vulnerability to volatile global gas markets” and that the only way to bring down bills for good is by making Britain a “clean energy superpower.”