Billpayers braced for big spike in energy prices

• Ofgem will unveil a new price cap on 27 May. It’s unlikely to be good news
• More than 27,000 solar panels were installed in the UK in March
• Cheap energy-sceptics Reform UK admit defeat in crusade against solar farms

We’ve been building up to it since the end of February, and now we’re only days away from the next energy price cap, at which point we’ll know for sure how much Donald Trump’s war with Iran is costing billpayers. 

We’ve done some calculations and we think it will increase by 11.1%. That would mean a price cap of £1,847 between July and September. It’s not great news for billpayers, but hopefully we’re being overly pessimistic. 

All we know for sure is that life is getting more expensive, and the past three months have shown once again that we can’t rely on importing fossil fuels. The UK needs to expand its renewable capacity and get more homes onto electricity. 

The good news is that we’re well under way. In March, more than 27,000 solar panel systems were installed across the UK, taking the total number past 2 million. Two-thirds of these were in homes, which to us says that households are really waking up to how solar can save them money. 

According to the founder of a solar panel installer in Gloucestershire, solar panels are now about “saving money” far more than protecting the environment. This shift in how people see solar might be one of the long term effects of the energy crisis.  

Will we see even more take up with a double-digit jump in the energy price cap? And will these numbers influence the details of the Warm Homes Plan? We’ll have to wait and see, but there’s definitely great momentum behind solar energy, so much so that even ultra-cheap energy sceptics Reform UK have admitted they can’t stop big solar farms being built. 

We predict the energy price cap will go up 11.2%

Bills are definitely getting more costly from July. By exactly how much, we won’t know until 27 May when Ofgem sets out the next energy price cap. Cornwall Insight have predicted a 13% bump, and they’ve been right in the past. Our figure is taken from our own analysis, as well as looking at what major energy companies expect to happen. 

The UK has now seen more than 2 million solar panel installations

There were 27,607 solar installations in March, taking the UK beyond the 2 million mark. We all know the reason why: solar is the cheapest form of energy there is. Depending on gas will keep bills permanently high, especially as a long term peace between the US and Iran seems miles off. 

Heat pumps the only way to keep households safe from price shocks

If you want any more proof that electrification is the way to protect your wallet from price shocks, just look across the English Channel. A new report from a Danish think tank has found that with chaos in the gas markets, households can save £1,906 by replacing boilers and petrol cars with heat pumps and electric vehicles. 

Reform UK admit defeat in stopping solar farms

Cheap energy sceptics Reform UK are seeing the light… at least in one sense. They’ve recently conceded that they cannot stop some of the biggest solar farms in the UK from being developed and providing people with clean power, despite their best efforts. Let’s hope that continues.

Average price of clean technology

Solar PV: £7,913.27

Solar battery storage: £9,413.70

Air source heat pump: £13,723.41

Ground source heat pump: £23,480.04

Number of the week

£1,847

That’s our prediction for the next energy price cap.

Sources

• https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjrp19v9vl2o
• https://theecologist.org/2026/may/18/solar-installations-through-roof
• https://www.politico.eu/article/nigel-farage-cant-block-labours-mega-solar-farms-reform-uk-energy-chief-richard-tice-admits/
• https://concito.dk/en/news/electrification-is-the-most-powerful-tool-to-protect-europeans-from-energy-shocks
• https://www.theecoexperts.co.uk/news/energy-price-cap-prediction

Written By

Maximilian Schwerdtfeger Deputy editor

Max joined The Eco Experts as content manager in February 2024 and became deputy editor in 2025. He has written about sustainability issues across numerous industries, including maritime, supply chain, finance, mining, and retail. He has also written extensively for consumer titles like City AM, The Morning Star, and The Daily Express.

He has represented The Eco Experts on national television several times, including the BBC’s Sunday Morning Live and ITV Tonight .

In 2020, he covered in detail the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) legislation on sulphur emissions and its effects on the global container shipping market as online editor of Port Technology International.

He also explored the initiatives major container ports and terminals have launched in order to ship vital goods across the world without polluting the environment.

Since then, he has reported heavily on the impact made by environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices on the supply chain of minerals, with a particular focus on rare earth mining in Africa.

As part of this, in 2022 Max visited mines and ports in Angola to hone in on the challenges being faced by one of the world’s biggest producers of rare earth minerals.

His most recent sustainability-related work came much closer to home, as he investigated the eco-challenges faced by independent retailers in the UK, specifically looking at how they can cut emissions and continue to thrive.

Max lives in South London and is an avid reader of books on modern history. He has also recently learned to play the game Mahjong and takes every opportunity to do so. He is also yet to find a sport he doesn’t enjoy watching.

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