UK energy regulator warns of 'hardships' while raising rates 80% for the year

The U.K.'s energy regulator on Friday warned that it was raising prices throughout the nation by as much as 80%, a move the bureau said comes amid the "hardship" of ongoing energy shortages. 

The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets, or Ofgem, said in a press release that its "energy price cap will increase to £3,549 per year for dual fuel for an average household from 1 October 2022."

The price cap represents the upper limit at which energy providers can bill U.K. residents for energy on an annual basis. The rate represents an 80% hike from the £1,971 cap Ofgem earlier had in place. 

The hike comes "as Ofgem's CEO warns of the hardship energy prices will cause this winter and urges the incoming Prime Minister and new cabinet to provide an additional and urgent response to continued surging energy prices," the agency said. 

The increase, the bureau said, "reflects the continued rise in global wholesale gas prices, which began to surge as the world unlocked from the Covid pandemic."

The spike is likewise being driven "still higher to record levels by Russia slowly switching off gas supplies to Europe," they added.