// BBC BUSINESS NEWS — FINANZA
Struggling households need more help with bills, energy industry says
Higher energy bills this winter mean the government should step in to provide more help for households most in need, the body representing energy firms in the UK has said.
Stubbornly high prices over the last few years have left some people needing "emergency support" over and above the existing £150 Warm Home Discount, Energy UK said.
It added that bills were unaffordable for millions and a "better targeted and more agile" support scheme was needed.
On Wednesday, the energy price cap for October onwards will be announced by regulator Ofgem and is expected to hit a three-year high.
"Suppliers continue to do all they can to help their customers but as well as persistently high bills, record levels of debt show how the current system is failing to provide the right support to those in need," Energy UK chief executive Dhara Vyas said.
A new "social discount" scheme would result in "a system that works better for everyone", she added.
Ofgem reported at the end of last winter that customers who had fallen behind on their energy bills owed suppliers a record £4.7bn. Since then wholesale energy prices have risen, following the start of the Iran war in February.
Energy consultancy Cornwall Insight predicts Ofgem's cap on household price rises, which is set every three months, will go up by 4% when it is announced on Wednesday.
The rise will apply to household bills during the first half of the coming winter and follows a sharper 13% rise in July.
As well as the conflict in the Middle East, Cornwall Insight said prices had been affected by heatwaves across Europe that had increased demand for power generation to support air conditioning and other cooling.