Final energy price hike strikes on Thursday

The last energy price rise comes into effect this Thursday (10th November) when EDF Energy increases its prices by 15.4% or £101 for gas and 4.5% or £21 for electricity. The increase brings to an end a year of misery for consumers where energy bills rocketed by 21% or £224 on average.

With the average household now facing an energy bill of £1,293 a year, the number living in fuel poverty has rocketed to an incredible 6.9 million. And this price rise misery could be made worse by another cold winter - 87% of people are worried about the cost of their energy bills as they head towards the winter months - more than a quarter (26%) more than last year.

Worryingly, almost nine in ten households - 89% or 23 million - will ration their energy use to save on bills this year - 4 million or 16% more than last year. Last winter over half of all households (55%) risked their health or well-being by going without heating at some point to keep their energy costs down and this figure looks set to rise as consumers struggle with rising energy bills.

Ann Robinson, Director of Consumer Policy at uSwitch.com, says: "As we brace ourselves for another cold winter, the vast majority of British households are facing the reality of substantially higher energy prices. Two price hikes from all the big six suppliers will put a significant strain on family finances and many will be forced to ration their energy use in order to keep a lid on bills. Almost 7 million households are now in fuel poverty, but the alarming fact is that many more will have to go without heating to keep bills down.

"With the cold nights starting to set in, I would urge consumers to act now to reduce their bills. We must all start thinking about and managing our energy usage and there are two key steps to this - use less energy by making your home more energy efficient and pay less for the energy you do use. By improving energy efficiency and ensuring they are on the most competitive plan for them, hopefully households can keep their winter fuel bills manageable without resorting to drastic and potentially dangerous measures."