October 13, 2011

With average real incomes heading down and average fuel bills going up, the typical British household will be in “fuel poverty” by the  2015 if energy bills stay on their current path.

Fuel prices have almost doubled as a share of median income since 2004, and an official target to spend £200bn on new infrastructure by 2020, mainly on the so-called Smart Grid,  will intensify the price rises.

Next month, the average annual bill for a “dual fuel” (Gas and electric) customer will reach £1,293, or 6 per cent of median household income, compared with 3.3 per cent in 2004.