Wondering how much your gas bill may cost in the near future? Here we explain the most recent changes and what it means for your energy bill.
UK gas bill’s change in response to the wholesale prices, but thankfully we domestic customers are protected by the Energy Price Cap set by Ofgem.
This means that the price of gas per kWh is capped at 7p, meaning that the energy bills for the typical household in Great Britain will be frozen at £1,923 a year until 2024, welcome news for many, yet still others rightly point out that for many households, this still doesn’t go far enough.
UK Average Gas Bill in 2023
In terms of the average gas bill, the average UK household uses 12,000kWh of gas, which is currently capped at 7p per kWh.
This means annually, households will pay an average of £1,923 for gas and electricity (for average use).
To find out more about what you can expect to pay, check out our complete guide on appliance running costs and our guide on the average electricity costs per kWh from October onwards.
What is a kilowatt-hour (kWh)?
A kilowatt hour (kWh) is a measure of energy that is equal to 1,000 watts – or 1 kilowatt (kW) of energy being used for one hour.
The performance of every electrical household appliance is measured in watts. You can quickly find the wattage of any of your household appliances on the manufacturers booklet, it’s label and if needed their official website.
Gas Price Per kWh in 2023 UK
Just like electricity, the price of gas has also seen a rapid increase in price.
At present, the average cost of gas per kWh is capped at 7p for the average household, as per the Energy Price Cap.
At the last energy price cap on July the 1st, 2023, the cost of gas per kWh decreased from 10p/kWh to 7p/kWh for gas.
Want to see the history of the energy price cap over time? See our complete guide here (includes charts and estimates) and also see how much this will impact your appliance running costs.
Should You Fix Your Gas Bill?
Unfortunately, there is no easy way to answer this question, since the energy market is extremely erratic and could continue to change.
For example, if you decided to move to a fixed tariff now, it could potentially protect you from the next energy price cap increase (set to come into force in January 2023).
However, for others, it may end up making more financial sense to stay to the normal standard tariff and remain protected by the energy price cap.
According to a recent estimate from analysts at Cornwall Insight, average prices could increase to £4,649 come January, when another price cap is set. But this is just an estimate, there is no way to be 100% certain this will be the actual increase.
For the complete breakdown of how we determined whether it’s wise to fix your energy prices or not, see our complete guide to fixing your energy prices.