Truss energy bill freeze brings little cheer to struggling households

theguardian.com:

Liz Truss has announced that energy bills for the typical household in Great Britain will be frozen at £2,500 a year until 2024, superseding Ofgem’sprice cap that was supposed to rise to £3,549 for the average home on 1 October.

The new prime minister claims the measure, as part of a taxpayer-funded £150bn support package, will save the typical household £1,000 per year. On top of this they will get the £400 off bills already promised earlier this year.

Here, five people in different circumstances from across the country give their verdict on the support package and where it will leave them this winter.

Kayleigh, a 36-year-old single mother of four from Milton Keynes who works in a hotel, saw no other option but to cancel her direct debit for October, after her energy provider Ovo quoted her a fixed dual-fuel rate that would cost more than her rent and mortgage put together.

“If I wanted to go on to the fixed rate in April, that would have been £280 a month,” Kayleigh said. “Now a fixed rate is £504 pounds a month.” She added that even the government’s new average bill cap was still too high for her.

“Liz Truss is just ensuring that the companies still get to keep their billion pound profits,” Kayleigh said. “We’re going to end up paying all this back. The only thing I can do is just accept that I will be in debt to my energy company. I can’t magic money out of thin air.

“I’ve already had conversations with the kids about, you know, when you come down in the morning, you can bring your duvet in the winter downstairs, just so I don’t have to necessarily have the heating on for a long time in the mornings.”

Cate, 60, from Southampton, is disabled and rents a council flat. She recently stopped paying her electricity bill, after