MILLIONS were yesterday warned they face crippling £3,549 energy bills — as PM frontrunner Liz Truss came up with a plan to save them just £11.
Households are facing an 80 per cent increase in costs.
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Yet Ms Truss’s plan to scrap green levies will give them back just a pittance of that rise over three months from October.
It came as warnings were issued that the new PM must act “urgently and decisively” after Ofgem unveiled the increased energy cap.
And worse is on the way — with forecasters Cornwall Insight predicting the price cap could hit £6,616 next April before reducing slowly.
Pressure is mounting to add to an existing rescue package announced in the spring with energy bills now rising 35 times faster than wages and 57 times quicker than benefits.
In an astonishing move, the public were warned they must think about rationing their gas and electric use.
The Resolution Foundation warned that by January families will pay £500 a month — treble the cost last year.
Low-income families are now seeing a staggering 46 per cent of their income going on energy bills — four times the amount last year.
Pre-pay customers will see a bill of £714 for January alone — more than half their monthly disposable income.
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Consumer champion Martin Lewis said: “If we do not get further government intervention on top of what was announced in May, lives will be lost this winter.”
Sheila Correll, 80, from Lincolnshire, who is cutting back on food and use of appliances, said a lot of people say they’d be “better off dead” as they struggle with soaring costs.
The respected Institute for Fiscal Studies said cutting the green levies will only save a meagre amount between October and December.
Ms Truss also plans to reverse the National Insurance hike as PM.
Plans for more direct support are being drawn up but she is remaining tight-lipped about how much more she is prepared to spend.
Rival PM candidate Rishi Sunak’s plan for direct support to poorer families while wiping VAT off bills would save families an average £51 between October and December, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said.
The independent economic watchdog OBR confirmed it is preparing a forecast for any “emergency fiscal event” the new PM might announce when they take over on September 6.
Incumbent Boris Johnson said yesterday there is a “pipeline of cash” coming with extra funding announced in weeks.
The existing package includes a £400 rebate for every household and more cash for the most vulnerable.
But economists warned that now falls far short of what is needed and said the next PM would need to stump up an extra £27billion when the next price cap rise hits in April.
Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi said help is coming but the next PM must ensure it isn’t a “sticking plaster”.
He added: “The reality is that we should all look at our energy consumption. It is a difficult time. There is war on our continent.
If we do not get further government intervention on top of what was announced in May, lives will be lost this winter.
Martin Lewis
“Very few people anticipated war. Wars happen in far-flung places. It is now here with us. We have to remain resilient. My responsibility is to deliver that help.”
During a series of meetings with energy bosses this week, Mr Zahawi insisted they had to do more to help customers rather than just relying on the Government. According to the Treasury, industry bosses “acknowledged” they would have to stump up a contribution to cushion the price rise blow.
Energy companies have even been in discussions with ministers about freezing the cap for two years at a cost of £100billion, but the move is likely to be rejected by the next PM.
The Government was blasted last night for not having a plan in place. The Tories have been in-fighting over their next leader since July 11 while knowing the price cap rise was coming.
Labour accused them of being “missing in action” and said they could even increase their £30billion plan to freeze the cap to help families this winter.
Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the Tory leadership contest was “detached from reality” and had gone on long enough.
She added: “When people woke up to this incredibly worrying news that energy prices are going to soar, they expected the very least that someone from the Government would be there to offer assurances and solutions to the national emergency we face. But what did we get? Yet again, the Government’s out of office on and radio silence from the Tory leadership candidates.
“It’s frankly appalling and a complete dereliction of duty. This zombie government needs to get back to work now, and freeze energy prices so households don’t pay a penny more this winter.”
Ofgem chief exec Jonathan Brearley said prices were driven higher by Russia turning off supplies to Europe. He added: “The response will need to match the scale of the crisis we have before us. With the right support in place and with regulator, Government, industry and consumers working together, we can find a way through this.”
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‘I’M TERRIFIED… WE STOCKPILE WOOD FOR FIRE’
BILL NOW: £2,041
NEW BILL: £3,710
MARRIED mum of one Nyree Clark fears she will die if the temperature in her terraced two-bed drops below 20C.
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The NHS adviser, 40, has a condition that gives her breathing difficulties if her skin gets cold.
She said in Chesterfield, Derbys: “I’m terrified it will happen. We’ve been stockpiling wood to go in our old fire in the front room.”
‘FREEZER’S OFF AND OUR MOBILES HAND-CHARGED’
BILL NOW: £1,070
NEW BILL: £1,810
PARENTS Chloe McIntyre, 28, and personal trainer Jack Gordon, 30, use hand-cranked mobile chargers to save energy in their two-bed flat.
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Chloe, of Melton Mowbray, Leics, who has a four-month-old daughter, said: “We turn our freezer off for a few hours each day and have solar-powered charging blocks for electrical items.”
‘IT’S UNFAIR THAT PREPAY METER COSTS MORE’
BILL NOW: £780
NEW BILL: £1,404
ELIZABETH Matley, 82, doesn’t know how she’ll heat her one-bedroom flat this winter using a prepayment meter.
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The retired secretary from Havant, Hampshire, spends 60 per cent of her £788-a-month state pension on bills.
She said: “I think it’s very unfair that people on prepayment meters have to pay more than others.
“I’ll have to layer up in fleeces.”
‘I’VE TOLD KIDS CHRISTMAS IS CANCELLED’
BILL NOW: £1,812
NEW BILL: £3,600
WIDOWED mum-of-three Louise Parker has told her kids there will be no Christmas this year.
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The 48-year-old from Higham Ferrers, Northants, who works 50 hours a week, has seen her fuel bills double since May.
She said: “You can’t give what you haven’t got. I have sleepless nights worrying about where money is going to come from.”
