Ofgem announce an increase to the price cap
This blog will be updated regularly as we know more.
Ofgem, the energy regulator, has announced that the energy price cap on variable tariffs will increase to £3,549 a year for a typical household from 1 October 2022.
The price cap only affects variable tariffs (in our case, Flexible Octopus). If you're on a fixed tariff, your rates are locked in and won't be affected. Head to our blog for more information on how the price cap works.
We haven't yet made decisions on our prices - we are working on our plans and expect to announce changes in the next 10 days.
Our team are working incredibly hard to help customers through this, but right now they won't be able to tell you what your new prices will be. We'll email you as soon as we have more details - with changes as they affect you, your options, and details of any help from government, Octopus and elsewhere.
We know that this is an incredibly worrying time for everyone.
We've already created a £7 million Octo fund to directly support those who need it most, and we'll be increasing that support to £15 million. As a business, we've never made a profit, and in the crisis, we've kept prices low to the point that we've absorbed £150 million in higher energy costs. But the increases in global gas prices are staggering and we cannot absorb it all. (To put it in perspective, in a normal year, our cost to buy energy for all our customers for a year would be around £1.5 billion. This year it's more like £9 billion.)
We've called on government to increase support for customers and we expect announcements on that soon after a new Prime Minister takes office.
Visit our Energy Crisis Information Hub for:
- Support available from Octopus and support from government
- Detailed analysis on what's driving this energy crisis
- Energy savings advice that helped Octopus customers save £5 million on bills last winter
Regular updates
9.45pm, Friday 26 August
Thank you to everyone on our team, who have worked incredibly hard answering calls, emails and tweets from customers today. And thank you to our customers who were, as ever on the whole, patient, thoughtful and understanding that we are doing our best in a very difficult situation.
We are working through what today's announcement means for our prices, and are aiming to start contacting affected customers in the next ten days. In the meantime, we’ve updated our Balance Forecast page this morning explaining how ‘crystal ball mode’ factors in the new price cap changes for October.
More information on our unique Balance Forecast tool here here
7pm, Friday 26 August
Energy regulator Ofgem have outlined the pending price cap by unit rate here: https://ofgem.gov.uk/check-if-energy-price-cap-affects-you…but they are averages and will vary by region.
We are working on our prices and expect to announce tariff changes in the next 10 days.
9.55am, Friday 26 August
Please visit our Energy Crisis Information Hub for information on:
- Support available from Octopus and support from government
- Detailed analysis on what's driving this energy crisis
- Energy savings advice that helped Octopus customers save £5 million on bills last winter
And more.
7.30am, Friday 26 August
For houses with prepayment meters, bills will rise from £2,017 to £3,608 from 1 October.
7.15am, Friday 26 August
Ofgem the energy regulator has announced that the energy price cap will increase to £3,549 for a typical household from 1 October.
This figure represents a rise of 80% on the current cap of £1,971.
Hey I'm Constantine, welcome to Octopus Energy!
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