The price of wholesale gas jumped to four times the cost in January in Britain compared to last year, contributing to the cost of living crisis impacting the public.
According to figures released on Tuesday from the Office for National Statistics, the wholesale price of gas (system average price) was around four times higher in January than levels seen in the previous year after experiencing the largest price spikes since the Summer of 2021.
The seven-day average of gas prices climbed to a high of 12.8p per kilowatt-hour in December, according to National Grid data, which the ONS noted was over eight times higher than the same period last in the previous year when it averaged 1.5p per kilowatt-hour.
On top of inflation and looming tax increases, the soaring cost of energy has been a major factor in contributing to the cost of living crisis in the UK. According to the national statistician, 66 per cent of adults in the country say they have experienced an increase in their cost of living.
The price of energy and gas was cited by 79 per cent of those who felt the pinch as a major contributor to their rising expenditures.
While fuel costs rose last October after the national regulator Ofgem rose the energy price cap by 12 per cent, prices are only expected to rise when the regulator sets the cap again in April. It is expected that the cap will jump by as much as 48 per cent, to an annual average cost of £1,900.
Though the United Kingdom does not rely heavily on gas from Russia, like most of their European counterparts, the ongoing disputes between Putin and the EU and the potential of an invasion of Ukraine have impacted the overall market price.
Some, including Brexit leader Nigel Farage, have suggested that the UK could have withstood such global price fluctuations if it chose to develop its own natural gas fracking industry.
Indeed, the government’s own estimates have said that the natural gas deposits at Bowland Shale could provide 50 years of energy at current usage. Yet, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has failed to tap such resources, deciding instead to focus on supposedly green alternatives of wind and solar energy.
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