Millions at risk if energy support package is cut in April, Utilita warns

NICHOLAS EARL

MILLIONS of Brits are at risk of being unable to pay their energy bills beyond April, unless the government maintains support packages for households at current levels, Utilita Energy has warned.

The firm’s chairman, Derek Lickorish, has written to business secretary Grant Shapps, calling for the subsidies in the Energy Price Guarantee to be sustained for another 12 months in order to keep average energy bills sustained at £2,500 per year.

In the letter, seen by City A.M., Lickorish argued the extension would provide “insulation from the short-term price-shock” that is expected after support is reduced in April.

If the support package is not maintained, millions of households would be left “even more financially vulnerable,” he wrote. Extending the scheme would “allow time for government and industry to work closely together to implement better targeted support for those who need it most” next winter, he added.