‘People are going to fall into poverty’ – Sunderland residents have their say on rising energy prices

With Ofgem’s price cap increasing from Friday, April 1, households will see the biggest rise in the cost of energy in living memory when bills increase by 54%, or almost £700, to just under £2,000 a year.

The energy price cap for those on default tariffs who pay by direct debit is rising by £693 from £1,277 to £1,971 from April 1.

Prepayment customers will see a bigger jump, with their price cap going up by £708, from £1,309 to £2,017.

The regulator was forced to hike the energy price cap to a record £1,971 for a typical household as gas prices soared to unprecedented highs.

Fuel poverty charity National Energy Action (NEA) warned the cost of heating an average home has now doubled in 18 months, leaving 6.5 million households unable to live in a warm safe home across the UK.

The Echo spoke to a number of people who all raised concerns about the rising cost of living.

Kyle Dixon will see his energy bills more than double in price.

The 23-year-old said: “Our energy prices are doubling from April 1. We were paying around £70 a month but it is going up to £145 which is concerning as we do have other bills to pay.”

"We’ll be trying to do the meter readings to hopefully get the last of the lower prices.”

As prices soar, Ben Cooney, 65, from Grindon, highlighted that the “unaffordable” prices could push people into poverty.

He commented: “I’m very concerned because it is not just a small increase, it is going to be a vast increase which I think the majority of people will be unable to afford.

"They are going to fall into poverty which is a disgrace in this day and age.”

Karen Daniels, who lives in Murton, has already started to prepare for the rise in prices once her fixed-term energy deal comes to an end.

The 63-year-old said: "We’ve already lowered the temperature in the house, we’re actually in the middle of topping up the insulation in the loft and we have solar panels – and if we could have a wind farm, we would.

"We’re tied into a deal at the moment so it will affect us when it ends however we are preparing for them to go up and hopefully we’ll mitigate what they do go up by.”

Sandra Donnelly isn’t concerned by the rise as she has actually seen a reduction in the cost of her energy bills.

The 74-year-old, from South Shields, stated: “I’m not overly concerned because my bill has gone from £160 to around £104 a month so if it goes back up to £160 then I still haven’t lost out.

"If it does go up, you’ve just got to grin and bear it.”

Amanda Martin, the owner of Fat Unicorn on Mackie's Corner, has managed to get a fixed rate for her business, however she hasn’t had the same success for her bills at home.

She commented: “For the business, we set up on an energy contract not so long ago so we are locked in for another year and a half so hopefully it will have all calmed down by then.

"At home, our supplier has gone into administration so we don’t really know how that is going to pan out.”

Some felt that the government and energy companies are not offering enough support, with Lilian Griffiths wanting to see prices “balanced out”.

The 73-year-old market trader said: “I don’t think there is enough support from the government and energy companies.

"I feel they should be doing a little bit more to help because everything is going up so we need something that is going to balance it out.”

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