Deepening energy debt crisis looms as price cap rises again

26 August 2026

Ofgem has today announced that the average household energy bill will be £1,723 for the period October 1st to December 31st, which marks a 4% rise on July’s figure.

StepChange, the largest not-for-profit provider of debt advice, expects energy bill pressures to grow as a result, with people across Britain increasingly likely to struggle with arrears in the coming months and into next year.

• The average amount of energy arrears per StepChange client in Britain, where the energy regulator’s price cap is in place, reached £2,673 in the first half of this year – an increase of more than £200 compared to 2025 figures.
• Latest figures from Energy UK show that energy debt now stands at a record £6 billion and remains on course to reach £7 billion by the end of 2026. 
• Recent polling by YouGov found that three in ten (29%) GB adults are worried about their ability to pay their energy bills over the next six months, and for those paying bills, almost one in two (45%) have taken action to reduce their energy usage in the last three months.

The charity has been campaigning to plug the gap in energy affordability, calling for a social tariff which will bring down bills for the most financially vulnerable and a debt write off scheme to reduce historic arrears built up during the energy price spike.

Emily Whitford, Senior Public Policy Advocate and author of Plugging the gap, said:

“Whilst expected with ongoing global instability, any rise in energy bills heading into autumn translates into household budgets being hit at potentially the worst time, as typical trends mean gas and electricity usage will likely increase as people start to heat their homes more frequently. This increase comes on top of the previous 13% hike in energy bills households saw in July. It’s for that reason the Government must prioritise a social tariff to plug the gap in energy affordability.

For anyone struggling with their energy bills – talk to someone and reach out for help. Your energy supplier may have schemes to support you, and a debt advice charity like StepChange can support you with full budgeting, specialist assistance, and ultimately chart a course back to financial health.”

Notes to Editors

1. Ofgem’s energy price cap response can be found here.
2. Energy UK figures on total customer debt can be found here.
3. StepChange client data is based on full debt advice clients with energy arrears, with extreme values removed, totalling 44,535 in 2025, and 24,035 in 2026 so far.
4. All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2,142 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 9th - 10th July 2026. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults (aged 18+).
5. Energy bill polling statistics are based on a crosscut of GB adults from the total UK sample