The energy price cap is the maximum that suppliers in Great Britain can charge per unit of electricity and gas, plus daily standing charges, for a typical household on a default tariff. Ofgem sets the cap once a quarter. This hub tracks the current cap, what the unit rates and standing charges look like behind the headline figure, how the bill actually adds up, when the next change lands, and what protections sit alongside the cap if a household is in trouble. Primary sources: Ofgem cap publications, Citizens Advice price-cap calculator, Uswitch and MoneySavingExpert breakdowns.

Current cap

For the period 1 April to 30 June 2026, the Ofgem energy price cap is set at £1,641 per year for a typical household using a medium amount of gas and electricity and paying by Direct Debit. The previous cap (1 January to 31 March 2026) was £1,758. The April cut is -6.6%, or roughly £117 per year and £10 per month for a typical household.

The cap applies to standard variable tariffs and to most prepayment customers. It does not apply to fixed-price deals; those are governed by the contract the household signed.

What the unit rates look like behind the headline

The headline £1,641 figure is the price-cap calculator's annual estimate for a household using 2,700 kWh of electricity and 11,500 kWh of gas (Ofgem's typical domestic consumption values). The cap itself sets the unit rates and standing charges, not the bill total.

Average GB unit rates from 1 April 2026 (the cap varies slightly by region):

  • Electricity unit rate: approximately 27.0 pence per kWh.
  • Gas unit rate: approximately 6.7 pence per kWh.
  • Electricity standing charge: approximately 53 pence per day.
  • Gas standing charge: approximately 32 pence per day.

Standing charges add up to roughly £310 a year on a dual-fuel household before the first kWh is used, regardless of consumption. That fixed-cost element is the focus of the Ofgem standing-charge review currently underway.

How a typical bill breaks down

For the medium-use household behind the £1,641 figure, the rough split runs:

  • Electricity unit cost (2,700 kWh × 27p): around £730 a year.
  • Gas unit cost (11,500 kWh × 6.7p): around £770 a year.
  • Standing charges combined: around £310 a year.
  • VAT (5% on energy): already included in the cap rates above.

The bill total scales with consumption. Low users (1,800 kWh electricity, 7,500 kWh gas) typically pay around £1,150 a year on the same April cap. High users (4,100 kWh electricity, 17,000 kWh gas) typically pay around £2,310. The headline cap figure is a useful benchmark, not the household's actual bill.

Payment-method differences

Three payment methods are priced separately under the cap:

  • Direct Debit: the cheapest, and the figure most cap headlines use. The £1,641 figure is the Direct Debit cap.
  • Standard credit (cash or cheque on receipt of bill): typically £120 to £170 a year more than Direct Debit, because the supplier is exposed to bad debt.
  • Prepayment meter: Ofgem aligned the prepayment cap with Direct Debit in July 2023. Prepayment customers no longer pay a higher rate per unit, although top-up administration costs remain.

How the cap is set and why it moves

Ofgem re-calculates the cap every three months to reflect the underlying wholesale cost of gas and electricity, network charges (the cost of moving energy across the grid), policy costs (subsidies for renewables, social schemes), and a regulated allowance for supplier operating costs and bad debt. Each component is published on the Ofgem cap dashboard.

The main drivers of the April 2026 cut were falling wholesale prices and the removal of the Energy Company Obligation levy from electricity bills, with that cost transferred to general taxation in the October 2025 Budget. Wholesale gas prices remain elevated relative to the pre-2022 average but have eased steadily through Q1 2026.

The next cap: 1 July 2026

Ofgem announces the next cap by the end of May 2026, with the new rates taking effect from 1 July 2026 and running through 30 September 2026. The announcement comes about eight weeks before the cap takes effect to give suppliers and customers time to compare deals. Cornwall Insight publishes a forecast of the next cap roughly two weeks before Ofgem's official announcement; their forecast usually lands within 1 to 2% of the final figure.

Fixed deals: where they sit against the cap

Fixed tariffs are not bound by the cap. They run for a set period (typically twelve or eighteen months) at a price agreed in the contract. As of late April 2026, several suppliers offer fixes priced around 5 to 10% below the April cap, with cheap renewal pricing for retained customers. The trade-off: a fix locks the household out of further cap cuts. If wholesale prices fall further between now and Q3 2026, a fixed-rate customer will pay more than they would have on the cap.

Exit fees apply on most fixes if the household leaves before the term ends, typically £25 to £50 per fuel. The 49-day rule still applies: a household on a fix can switch suppliers in the last 49 days of the contract without paying any exit fee.

Standing charges and the Ofgem review

Standing charges are the daily fixed cost a household pays for being connected to the grid, regardless of consumption. They have risen steadily since 2022, in part because some of the cost of supplier failures during the 2021 to 2022 wholesale-gas crisis was loaded onto standing charges rather than unit rates.

Ofgem opened a review of standing charges in late 2023 and proposed a low-standing-charge optional tariff in early 2025. From April 2026, suppliers are required to offer a low-standing-charge tariff alongside their default deal. The optional tariff has a higher unit rate and a lower standing charge; it suits low-use households (a small flat or a second home). High-use households are usually better off on the standard cap.

Warm Home Discount and bill support

The Warm Home Discount is an annual £150 credit on a winter electricity bill for households on means-tested benefits and households in fuel poverty. From winter 2024-25 the eligibility rules expanded to roughly six million households across Great Britain.

Eligible households on Pension Credit or Universal Credit with high energy costs (based on property data the DWP holds) are credited automatically; no application required. A letter arrives between October and December if the household qualifies. The Cold Weather Payment (£25 for each seven-day cold spell, paid to households on qualifying benefits in postcodes where temperatures drop below freezing) runs alongside the WHD between November and March.

If you cannot pay your energy bill

Ofgem rules require suppliers to work with customers who fall behind. The first step is always to contact the supplier; missed payments without arrangement damage the credit file and can ultimately end in a forced prepayment-meter installation under warrant.

Standard arrangements suppliers must consider:

  • A repayment plan based on what the household can afford, taking benefits and other essential costs into account.
  • A payment break or a reduction in payments while the household sorts out income.
  • A switch to a prepayment meter if it helps the household manage payments (this is the customer's choice, not the supplier's, except under a court warrant).
  • A referral to the supplier's hardship fund. Most large suppliers have a charitable trust that pays off arrears in genuine hardship cases.

Citizens Advice runs the official Energy Consumer Service: 0808 223 1133, free from any UK landline or mobile.

Smart meters and the cap

The cap applies the same to smart-meter and traditional-meter households. The headline benefit of a smart meter is access to time-of-use tariffs, which sit outside the cap. An EV-tariff with a cheap overnight rate (typically 7p to 9p per kWh between 12.30am and 4.30am) can cut the electricity bill by 30 to 50% for households who can shift heavy loads to that window. Time-of-use tariffs are fixed-price deals, not capped products; the household compares them against the live cap before signing.

Glossary

  • Standing charge: daily fixed cost for being connected to the grid, regardless of consumption.
  • Unit rate: price per kWh of electricity or gas used.
  • kWh: kilowatt-hour. The unit on every bill. A typical UK home uses 2,700 kWh of electricity and 11,500 kWh of gas a year.
  • TDCV: typical domestic consumption values. Ofgem's standard usage profile for headline-cap calculations.
  • ECO: Energy Company Obligation. The levy that funded supplier-installed insulation and heating measures. Removed from bills in April 2026 and shifted to general taxation.
  • SVT: standard variable tariff. The default deal a household sits on if they have not chosen a fix. Capped by Ofgem.
  • Cornwall Insight: the energy-market analyst whose cap forecasts arrive two weeks before Ofgem's official figure.

Where to check the live numbers