Energy bills are not capped at £2,500

IT is shocking to see our elected MP pedalling the same misunderstanding/untruths about the Energy Price Guarantee in her column this week (September 29). Quote “which caps household energy bills at £2,500 over the next two years”.

That government policy DOES NOT cap annual household energy bills to £2,500 per year for the next two years, as PM Ms Truss and Laura Farris have both incorrectly stated this week.

The policy only caps the energy unit rates that the energy retailers are allowed to charge, not the total amount they can charge.

This is not rocket science: Use more = pay more. And that could be well over £2,500.

The industry calculated measure of “average household” will generate a bill of around £2,500, – but very few households are actually “average”. The amount of energy a household uses varies widely due to individual needs, number of people living in a house, the age of building and quality of insulation and whether energy-consuming appliances are newer and more efficient, or older and power hungry.

It also depends on how cold it gets over winter and how long that persists – flip a coin on that one.

So, if you use – by choice – or even have to use more energy than the industry calculated “average” to maintain your health you could well pay more than £2,500.

Be clear. There is no cap at £2,500 and it is an untruth at worst and misleading at best to continue pedalling this line in media interviews and newspaper columns. Please understand and address the topic correctly to avoid trotting out more misleading statements.

Will we get a correction in the next NWN MP column?

Steve Gouldstone

Newbury