Millions of families across Britain are to be affected by an increase in the cost of their energy bills as British Gas has announced a rise in its gas and electricity tariffs.
Last week the country's biggest power supplier announced that the cost of energy bills could rise by as much as £100 a year.
Domestic gas and electricity are to rise by an average of six per cent as of November 16th.
This balances out at around an increase of £1.50 per week.
Managing Director of British Gas Phil Bentley, said: "We know that household budgets are under pressure and this £1.50 per week rise will be unwelcome. However, we simply cannot ignore the rising costs that are largely outside our control, but which make up most of the bill.
"Britain’s North Sea gas supplies are running out, and British Gas has to pay the going rate for gas in a competitive global marketplace."
Recent market research undertaken by MoneySupermarker.com highlighted the fact that 79 per cent of households are now on a budget irrespective of demographic, income bracket or family set-up and one in five household are currently sitting on the brink of their 'affordability tipping point', finding it impossible to meet their monthly bills and costs.
Whilst a rise of £1.50 a week may not sound particularly drastic, there are concerns that thousands more households around the UK will be pushed into fuel poverty.
Six million households in the UK are already considered to suffer from fuel poverty – when a household needs to spend more than ten per cent of its take-home income to maintain an acceptable level of heating.
Ann Robinson, Director of Consumer Policy at uSwitch.com, commented: "Consumers will be very disappointed – the pressure of an extra £100 or so on energy bills will leave many buckling and forced to face another winter where they are scared to turn on the heating for fear of the cost."
As energy prices continue to rise – and several other energy providers are expected to follow suit – households may look to the installation of solar panels in order to combat this.
A typical 3kWp domestic PV system provides around 2,500 kilowatt hours of electricity a year – that's around three quarters of a typical household's electricity needs, saving hundreds of pounds in energy bills.