Why are business gas prices rising?

However, Russia’s war in Ukraine has thrown further complications into the works, as the country fought back on global restrictions by blocking the availability of their Nord Stream pipeline, which supplies gas to Germany, the Netherland and the UK amongst others. Russia had already reduced the capacity of Nord Stream, but just a couple of days ago, reduced it further by 40%. Germany’s politicians reported that this move from Russia was purely a political one, however, it worked as it skyrocketed prices around Europe.

As a result of the perfect storm of not only meteorological factors, but also geopolitical matters, gas prices have risen by 250% since January 2021. In the UK, we have been particularly badly hit by this due to our reliance on imports of gas, and the insufficient storage we have in place to retain supplies – which is catastrophic news for a country that relies on gas central heating within our homes.

We anticipate that off the back of this further reduction of the Nord Stream capacity by Russia, UK gas prices will only continue to rise, with little that suppliers can do. We may well see more suppliers go bust, as we did in November last year. Meanwhile, customers will feel the impact of this, particularly as the Ofgem price cap rises again in October – we expect it to reach the region of £2,800.

We are urging customers to speak to their suppliers before they get into financial difficulties, to set up a payment plan and find out if there are any benefits or incentives that they can potentially claim. It’s predicted that six million people will be in fuel poverty this winter, unable to afford to heat their homes. For domestic customers, please check if you are eligible for a Warm Home Discount or a Winter Fuel Payment from the Government. For the first time, the advice of shopping around for a better deal is simply not recommended, as the deals just are not out there. At least 21 suppliers have already gone bust since the wholesale gas prices rose last year, and we fully expect there to be more collateral damage, as we are seeing suppliers pull their prices back to cut costs.”