Expect a £5,000 energy bill in 2020

UK households could find themselves spending nearly £5,000 per year on energy within a decade, according to new research.

A study by uSwitch.com found that the cost of cutting carbon through renewable energy and carbon capture initiatives will cause the average annual energy bill to quadruple from £1,243 to £4,733.

The price comparison site found that gas and electricity prices have more than doubled in the last five years, and said it expects this trend to continue.

The warning follows a report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which found that households in the UK spend nearly twice as much on their energy bills compared to the European average.

Ann Robinson, uSwitch.com’s director of consumer policy, said the study was “a wake up call for us all.”

“The £5,000 a year energy bill may seem like an outside possibility, but we have to remember that energy bills doubled in the last five years alone and that the huge investment needed just to keep the lights on in Britain will alone add £548 a year onto our bills,” Robinson said.

Robinson advised householders to make sure their homes are energy efficient and to always be searching for the cheapest energy supplier.

“Big projects such as a new energy efficient boiler or home installation can be expensive, but the savings you make through cutting the price of your energy could be re-invested into energy efficiency measures so that you reap even greater rewards in the future,” she added.