International students in the UK should brace for impact as the country faces an energy crisis and the concomitant effects of inflation due to rising fuel costs and energy prices.
Charities in the UK project that more than eight million homes in Britain will be hamstrung by financial trouble when the new energy price cap is effected.
The UK’s energy price cap is a safeguard provided by the government for defaulters on basic energy tariffs. It limits the rates energy suppliers can charge for their defaulter tariffs.
On February 3rd 2022, the energy price cap was increased to £1,971 per year by the energy regulator Ofgem. The price cap for prepayment tariffs also rose from £708 to £2,017 per year.
Homes across all income levels are projected to feel the effect of these changes and the cost of living pressures.
A post pandemic boost in demand culminated in a meteoric rise in the wholesale prices of oil and gas.
Average energy bills in the UK will rise to £693 annually under the revised price cap.
The End Fuel Poverty Coalition (EFPC) stated that the current energy conundrum could leave 8.5 million households in the UK without the resources to heat and power their homes.
There are lingering fears on the potential for the situation to exacerbate by Winter following collateral consequences of the Russian-Ukraine conflict.
