More than half of adults in Wales expect to ration energy in the next few months following the latest price rise, according to polling by National Energy Action.
Energy bills are set for a third successive increase, with the price cap rising 6.4 per cent (over £100) to £1,849 a year for a typical household from 1 April.
The announcement from Ofgem comes as new polling from National Energy Action and YouGov finds that 56 per cent of adults in Wales likely to ration energy in coming months (compared to 49 per cent in Britain as a whole).
The polling also finds that only 38 per cent of adults in Wales say that they have been able to comfortably afford their heating bill in the last three months, without needing to ration their heating or making cuts elsewhere (compared to 42 per cent in Britain).
Meanwhile 36 per cent of adults in Wales have found themselves without credit on their prepayment meter at least once in the last 12 months (27 per cent in Britain).
National Energy Action Head of Wales Ben Saltmarsh said: ‘This is the third price cap rise in a row. The cost of energy remains stubbornly high – far beyond pre-crisis levels – and out of reach for hundreds of thousands of the poorest households across Wales. People continue to ration their heating, fall into record levels of energy debt, and go without essentials. For many, this has become their new normal.
‘We need enduring solutions to this systemic problem, to help make energy affordable for those most in need, rid them of the burden of debt, and make their homes warmer, healthier places to live.’
National Energy Action is calling for additional targeted energy bill support through a social tariff or an expanded Warm Home Discount; a help-to-repay scheme to support households out of debt; and for a significant increase in investment in the Welsh Government’s Warm Homes Programme to insulate the coldest homes for the poorest households.