Gas bills are up 8% this October. What it means for you
Ofgem's price cap rose 4% on 1 October, and gas is driving the increase. Here is what changed, who it affects and what it does to the cost of heat.
What the source says
What changed
The energy price cap went up on 1 October. For a typical home using gas and electricity, the yearly bill goes from £1,663 to £1,723. That is £60 a year, or about £5 a month.
Gas is where it bites. Gas bills are up about 8%, while electricity has barely moved. The unit rates for the three months to 31 December are:
Gas: 7.97p per kWh, up from 7.33p in July to September
Electricity: 26.32p per kWh, up from 26.11p
Why
Wholesale gas prices have gone up because of the conflict in the Middle East. Ofgem says gas is the main driver of this rise. Electricity stayed steady partly because the government removed VAT from domestic electricity bills.
What 8% looks like in your house
Say you use 10,000 kWh of gas a year. That is roughly £65 more if these prices stayed put for 12 months. It is only an example, so check your own bill for your real usage. You use more in winter, so the rise lands just as the heating comes on.
Does it affect you?
Only if you are on a standard variable tariff. If you are on a fixed deal, your rates stay the same until it ends. Ofgem says around 35% of households, about 11 million, are on fixed tariffs. When the rise was announced, some fixed deals were priced below the new cap, so it is worth a look.
What is next
The cap runs to 31 December. Forecasters expect another rise in January. EDF has predicted £1,932, and other analysts have said up to around £1,999. Those are predictions, not facts. Ofgem usually confirms the next cap towards the end of November.
What about heat pumps?
Gas went up faster than electricity, so the gap has narrowed. These are rough sums, using the October unit rates:
A gas boiler turns roughly 85 to 90% of its fuel into heat, so heat costs about 9p per kWh.
A heat pump gives about 3 units of heat for every 1 unit of electricity. That works out at about 8.8p per kWh.
If yours only manages 2.5, it is about 10.5p. If it manages 3.5, it is about 7.5p.
So a well-installed heat pump now costs about the same as gas to run, or a bit less. A poorly set-up one still costs more. How well it is installed matters a lot.
Prices checked 10 October 2026. We will update this when the January cap is announced.
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