Ben Gallizzi

Discover what standing charges are, and why they’re added to your energy bills. Find out if it’s possible to avoid standing charges for electricity and gas by switching to a different tariff. A standing charge is a fixed-rate cost that is added to your energy bill every single day, even if you don’t use any energy. There are separate standing charges for gas and electricity. The charge is designed to cover the costs of supplying your home with gas and electricity.

The energy price cap has increased by 13% today, adding an average of £221 per year to standard variable tariff customers’ energy bills. This is the first impact of the Iran war on UK energy prices, with the price cap expected to stay at around its current level for the rest of the year. What should customers do? If you’re on a standard variable tariff - or if you haven’t switched for at least a year - you’re affected by the price cap increase. But you don’t have to accept it.

Scotland is due to get three new hydroelectric power stations by the early 2030s after the energy regulator, Ofgem, gave its approval to the new projects as work continues to reduce the UK’s reliance on energy imports. With the Ukraine-Russia war and the conflict in the Middle East constricting energy supplies and significantly affecting UK energy prices, a key part of the UK’s energy strategy is to become more self-reliant and generate more of its own energy, rather than importing it.