Ofgem's price cap - here's what it means for your energy bills

0:05Hi, I'm Charlie Duffield and welcome back to The Standard Podcast. If you're new here, hit follow and give us a rating. For the latest news, head to standard.co.uk. Coming up later in the show. The craft of songwriting, the thing coming out of your mind, realising your idea, the buzz I get off that and the adrenaline, it's like my reason for being alive. That was Self Esteem speaking at last night's Ivor Novello Awards. We'll have all the latest in part two.

0:41But first, household energy bills will fall by 7 % from this July. As the latest energy price cap has been revealed by Ofgem, the price cap sets the limit on how much firms can charge customers per unit of energy. It sounds like good news, but energy bills will still be 10 % higher in July than at the same time last year. To find out more, we're joined by Emily Seymour at Consumer Champion Witch. Emily, remind us of the facts and figures that have been announced today. So we learned today that the new rates coming in on the 1st of July will equate to an average household paying£1 ,720 per year.

1:28That's actually not that helpful of a figure because it's only in place for three months. So it's probably better to think of it as a monthly payment of around£143 for a typical household. The cap isn't for the whole bill, it's for each unit that you pay for. So the specific rates there are that for electricity, the averages will be 25.7 pence per kilowatt hour. And for gas, it will be 6.3 pence per kilowatt hour. Both of those are a little bit lower than what we've been paying so far. We've also seen some reductions to the standing charges today. So for electricity, the average standing charge will now be 51.3 pence.

2:03And for gas, it will be 29.8. You'll see kind of small reductions in how much you're paying as a daily standing charge across your bills if you're on a variable tariff. And what is Ofgem's actual role? So Ofgem is the energy regulator. So they are put in place by the government to make sure that energy customers, domestic energy customers, get a fair deal from their providers. They are the organisation that is responsible for making sure energy companies follow regulations and do their best for energy customers. Ofgem sets an energy price cap every three months, and that is a cap on how much all domestic energy suppliers are allowed to charge their customers per unit of energy you use.

2:48So it's not a cap on your total bill. It's a cap on each kilowatt hour of energy that you use. Do we know what has led to this price cap reduction? It's gone down today for the 1st of July, and that's thanks to a whole host of different reasons, really. But it's mostly dictated by the global wholesale energy market, which has come down recently due to some mild weather we've been having and also a little bit more stability in the general open market. How much of a difference will this make to people's lives? It is certainly good news for consumers if you are currently on a variable tariff. So not every energy customer is attached to the price cap.

3:28If you fix a deal with your provider, if you're paying a contracted tariff, then you'll just carry on paying what you're paying already. If you're on a variable or flexible tariff, then your prices will likely come down. It's about 7%, which for an average or medium typical household equates to about£10 a month, I think,£11 a month. So that certainly will make a difference. I think it's important to remember that even though this is a decrease, we're still seeing prices much higher than they have been in the past, and especially compared to this time last year. So this price is more expensive than you would have been paying last summer.

4:03But it's certainly an improvement on what we had three months ago. So that's good news. And what would your advice be for consumers? So I think this is probably quite a good time if you haven't fixed an energy tariff to have a look at what deals are available. either things being offered by your own supplier or out on the energy market. We've been running analysis of energy deals over the past few weeks, and we're seeing that there are lots of fixed options available that are cheaper than the current rates and also cheaper than these rates coming up in July. So I think if you're thinking about fixing an energy deal, it's a good time to start looking.

4:41You might want to wait a couple of weeks to see how these new prices kind of bed in and how energy companies respond, they might kind of start to offer lower tariffs again. We're certainly seeing things stable out a little bit, which means it's probably a good time to consider a fix if you haven't already. What support is available for people who are struggling to pay energy bills? If you're in a position where you can't pay your energy bills or you're kind of building up debt, the first thing to do is to get in touch with your energy provider and talk to them about what the options are. because many energy providers, especially the big ones, will have kind of policies in place, hardship funds you might be able to access, and they'll be able to kind of advise you and to make sure that you're on the best possible rates.

5:27It's important not to suffer in silence. There are obviously certain benefits available that you can access if you're in a low-income household, which would then sort of make sure that you're accessing all of the support available. Finally, in the longer term, what needs to happen to our energy system to ensure more stable prices? There's obviously all sorts of things at play with the global energy market, which then feeds directly into how much we pay for domestic energy here. Certainly experts in the industry have said at various points that the more renewable energy that the UK produces, obviously the better that is.

6:08We're in a better position to be setting our own prices. It's a complicated and big global puzzle. Let's go to a break. Coming up in part two. I used to introduce this next song by explaining it wasn't a rebel song. It was because believing in the possibilities of peace was then and is now a rebellious act. The winners of songwriting excellence take to the stage and take a stand. We'll see you back here in just a moment.

7:13Welcome back. Last night, musical maestros gathered in London to attend the Ivor Novello Awards, which honour the best in British and Irish songwriting and screen compositions. And plenty of big name artists came away with prizes. Joining us now is the London Standard's lifestyle and culture writer, India Block. The Ivers are perhaps not as well known as other awards ceremonies. I'm thinking of the Brits or the Grammys. Can you explain what they're all about? They've been running for 70 years. Full name, the Iver Novello Awards. They are dedicated entirely to recognising the best and brightest of Britain and Ireland's songwriting.

7:55and composing talent. They're especially a big deal for singer-songwriters and the Beatles won 15 Ivers and Amy Winehouse won three. So in the industry, the Oscars for songwriting. Who are the big winners from last night's ceremony? Biggest headline is probably Charlie XCX. She was named Songwriter of the Year. Obviously, everyone had a brat summer last summer and she scooped plenty of awards, but I think it's really important to see her songwriting skills recognised too. Her lyrics often seem simple, but she also managed to remix the entire album and to create something incredibly layered. She was very humble in her acceptance speech, but I think it's important to see this side of her music recognised.

8:41Lola Young won the Rising Star Award. Messi was obviously a huge hit. And if you listen to the lyrics for her new song, One Thing, You can see why they're causing a huge stir. They're really smart, but also quite X-rated. Self-esteem won the Visionary Awards. Robbie Williams and Brandon Flowers of the Killers were also recognised. One thing that I enjoy particularly is the substance that was snubbed at the Oscars, which was very unfair, I thought. But it won an Ivor for the Best Original Film Score. Probably the biggest controversy was Bono. He was there to collect U2's Fellowship of the Ivers Academy Award.

9:18And that's their highest honour. He made a really strong political statement. Hamas, release the hostages. Stop the war. Israel, be released from Benjamin Netanyahu and the far right fundamentalists that twist your sacred texts. And then he played an acoustic version of the Irish rebel song Sunday Bloody Sunday. You know, It's pretty brave given the drama that's currently occurring over the Irish rap band Kneecap. So Kneecap are currently being investigated by the Metropolitan Police and one of them, Liam, has been charged with a terrorism offence for displaying a Hamas flag at Kentish Town Forum during a performance.

10:08but they are doubling down, they're still performing, and they are claiming that it is all a government distraction for the ongoing genocide in Palestine. So it's become a big conversation, I think, in the music industry. A lot of bands have come out in support of a kneecap. I don't think Bono specifically referenced them, but he also really tapped into the Irish support for Palestine. What challenges do you think songwriters currently face?

11:07artists or more likely production companies will be turning to to write their songs and I think everyone thinks it's it's funny to get AI to write you some lyrics and to compose a tune but at the end of the day that is devaluing the skill in this industry. So once the money got taken out of the music industry everybody got scared to take chances and because they got scared to take chances no chances were taken and which means that the safest version of everything gets made. Now, before AI existed, people and songwriters AI'd themselves into a corner because it had to be, it just had to be a hit because now we've got 1 % of 1%.

11:46I am very glad that I was one of the last artists through the door when we were kings, but it's nobody's fault in particular. It's just the landscape. And if we live in a capitalist society, then capitalism is going to do capitalism. Robbie Williams there speaking after winning the Music Icon Award. India, how do you feel about the state of the music industry? I think there is quite a lot of hope. A lot of these popular artists at the moment, like Charlie XCX, like Taylor Swift, all of the sort of big, especially women in pop, they are singer-songwriters. And I think the fact that they write their own songs really resonates with an audience.

12:30So I think the craft will be preserved and treasured, but it is a very difficult time for the industry at the moment.

12:41And that's The Standard. For all the latest news, head to standard.co.uk. And if you'd like to get in touch, please do drop us a line at podcasts at standard.co.uk. We'll be back here on Tuesday at 4pm. Have a great bank holiday weekend and see you then.

13:02Thank you.