Energy Price Cap October 2026: What the £60 Rise Means

Last updated: 27 August 2026

By Stiv · Design, technology and personal finance

EnergyOfgem · October 2026

Up £60 a year, and two right answers

Ofgem confirmed the energy price cap October 2026 on Wednesday morning. A typical direct debit household paying for gas and electricity moves from £1,663 to £1,723 a year. That is £60 more, or roughly £5 a month. Meanwhile you will also see £1,935 quoted elsewhere, plus a 4% figure sitting awkwardly next to a 3.6% one. None of those numbers is wrong, and the reason is the interesting part.

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This is not financial advice. Cap rates, tariffs and offers change often. So always check the current terms on the supplier’s own site first.

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Section 01 · The headlineWhat the energy price cap October 2026 actually changes

One cap, one quarter, and a rise driven almost entirely by gas.

New cap£1,723 a yearTypical dual fuel, direct debit

ChangeUp £60 a yearRoughly £5 a month

Period1 Oct to 31 DecReviewed again for January

Gas billsUp 8%Electricity only: under 1%

Ofgem announced the change on Wednesday 26 August 2026, and it takes effect on 1 October. Because Ofgem resets the cap every three months, this one runs only to 31 December. After that, the January level takes over. The regulator points at wholesale costs. Those have climbed 11% over the past three months, largely on the back of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Crucially, the cap limits the rates you pay, not your total bill. Use more, pay more. That typical figure of £1,723 simply describes a full year at this level. In reality the level will not hold, since the next review lands in November.

You can read it in full on the Ofgem press release. Meanwhile the underlying rates sit on Ofgem’s own unit rates and standing charges page.

Section 02 · The mathsWhy you will see both 4% and 3.6%

Two accurate percentages, one cap, and a rounding step in between.

Ofgem titled its own announcement a 4% rise. However, MoneySavingExpert led with 3.6%, and so did most of the coverage that followed. Naturally that leaves readers wondering which one to believe.

Here is the arithmetic, which anyone can check. A £60 increase on £1,663 is 3.61%, so 3.6% is simply the typical-bill change stated precisely. Ofgem’s 4% describes the increase in the cap itself, then rounds it to a whole number. On the older consumption basis explained below, the same cap moves from £1,862 to £1,935. That works out at 3.9%, which rounds neatly to 4%.

Being straight about this: Ofgem does not spell out, line by line, how its 4% headline reconciles with the £60 bill change. Both figures come from the same announcement, and nobody disputes either. Above all, they sit close enough together that the practical answer stays the same. If you are on a default tariff and you use gas, budget for about £5 a month more from October.

Section 03 · The bit most reports skipThe TDCV change, and why you may see £1,935 quoted

The yardstick moved in July, so every headline figure since then reads lower.

Back in July, Ofgem updated its Typical Domestic Consumption Values, or TDCV. These are the assumed usage figures behind the phrase “a typical household”. Households now use roughly 7% less electricity and 17% less gas than at the previous review. Consequently the regulator cut the TDCV to match.

As a result, you can describe the same cap two ways. On the current basis it reads £1,663 rising to £1,723. On the old 2023 basis it reads £1,862 rising to £1,935. If you have seen £1,935 circulating and wondered whether someone had made an error, they had not. They were simply using the previous yardstick.

There is a genuine sting in the tail, though. Ofgem itself notes that TDCV is a presentational tool. Yet updating it does move the cap unit rate, because suppliers still recover certain fixed costs over fewer units of demand. In other words, the headline bill figure and what actually lands on your statement can move by different amounts. Use noticeably more gas than the new typical household, and your own increase will outrun the £60 headline.

Comparison panel showing £1,663 to £1,723 on the 2026 TDCV basis and £1,862 to £1,935 on the 2023 basis

Section 04 · Your billGas users versus electricity only

Almost all of this rise is gas. If you have no gas supply, you will barely feel it.

Gas bills rise by 8% under the new cap. By contrast, households that do not use gas at all see an increase of less than 1%. That gap is unusually wide, and it comes down to two moving parts pulling in opposite directions.

First, the Government has removed VAT from all domestic electricity bills. Without that intervention, Ofgem says the cap would have been roughly £45 higher. Second, the electricity standing charge falls while the gas standing charge edges up. Consequently the electricity side of a bill stays close to flat, and gas does nearly all of the work.

Direct debit rate	Jul to Sep 2026	Oct to Dec 2026
Electricity, per kWh	26.11p	26.32p
Electricity standing charge	57.19p a day	54.83p a day
Gas, per kWh	7.33p	7.97p
Gas standing charge	29.04p a day	29.68p a day

Those are Ofgem’s published figures, rounded to two decimal places. Note that the October electricity rates now include no VAT, whereas the July ones did. Reading a bill is nobody’s idea of fun. However, our guide on how to read an energy bill in the UK shows where each of these numbers actually appears.

Bar chart showing gas bills rising 8 per cent and electricity-only bills rising under 1 per cent under the October 2026 price cap

Section 05 · Who it missesWho the October rise does not touch

Roughly a third of households will not see this change at all.

Around 22 million households on default tariffs sit under the cap’s protection. Meanwhile about 35% of households, roughly 11 million of them, hold fixed tariffs. The October rise therefore passes them by. Fixed earlier this year? Then your unit rate and standing charge stay exactly where you left them until the deal ends.

There is a small bonus for that group as well. The VAT removal on electricity reaches customers already on fixed tariffs too, and suppliers apply it automatically. In short, you do not need to call anyone or fill in a form to get it.

Savings are available by choosing a fixed tariff, which are available at £100 or more below the October price cap.

Neil Kenward, Ofgem Director General for Markets

That is a notably direct steer from a regulator. Still, it is worth reading carefully rather than acting on immediately. Kenward also pointed to payment methods. Prepayment customers pay the lowest cap rates, and could save an average of about £45 compared with direct debit. Additionally, he flagged that many suppliers offer cheaper off-peak electricity to smart meter customers.

What fixing with Octopus actually locks

Which suppliers actually run those fixes? Octopus Energy is one, alongside most of the big names. Its fixed tariffs usually run for 12 months. Octopus is also clear about what a fix does and does not do. Your unit rates and standing charge stay put for the term. However, your monthly Direct Debit still moves with your estimated usage. So fixing steadies the rate, not the amount leaving your account. Then, at the end of the term, Octopus shifts you onto a flexible tariff unless you say otherwise.

Pricing depends on your postcode. So the only honest way to see a real number is to run your own address through it. Our Octopus referral page carries the current switching credit and the steps. Worth remembering, though: switching supplier and fixing your rate are two separate decisions. Broadly, a fix tends to suit households that value a predictable rate over the chance of a January drop.

Section 06 · What nowWhat you can actually do about the energy price cap October 2026

Three practical moves, and one question this post deliberately does not answer.

Firstly, find out which tariff you are actually on. Plenty of people assume they sit on the cap when they are mid-fix, or the other way round. Your last bill or your supplier’s app will say.

Secondly, take a meter reading close to 30 September. The rates change overnight. Therefore an accurate reading stops your supplier estimating the split, and billing September usage at October prices.

Thirdly, look at the shape of your usage rather than the headline. Gas is doing nearly all of the damage. So a gas-heavy home in a cold December will feel this far more than the £5 average suggests. Our guide to saving money on winter energy in the UK covers the low-effort changes first. Meanwhile cutting household bills widens things out beyond energy.

Then there is the question everyone asks next: fix, or ride the cap? That one deserves its own piece rather than a paragraph here. After all, the answer turns on exit fees, on what January might do, and on how much certainty you want. For the whole-year picture, our Ofgem price cap 2026 hub tracks each quarter as it lands.

Section 07 · ContextHow this compares with 2022 and 2025

Far below the crisis peak, but still moving the wrong way in real terms.

Perspective helps here. Prices remain 52% below the height of the 2022 energy crisis. Back then the government stepped in and capped bills at £2,500. In cash terms that is £1,859 less than the worst of it.

Nevertheless, the recent trend is not comfortable. Adjusted for inflation, the new cap sits 7% higher than the equivalent period in 2025. So bills are far better than they were three years ago, while still being meaningfully worse than last year. Both of those things hold at once. Consequently it is worth keeping both in view, rather than picking whichever suits the mood.

Energy price cap October 2026 FAQs

How much is the energy price cap from October 2026?

The energy price cap October 2026 works out at £1,723 a year for a typical dual fuel household on direct debit, up from £1,663. It applies from 1 October to 31 December 2026. Remember that it caps unit rates and standing charges, not your total bill. So heavy users pay more than the typical figure.

Why do some sites say the cap is £1,935?

Because they are using Ofgem’s older 2023 consumption assumptions. On that basis the same cap reads £1,862 rising to £1,935. Ofgem cut its Typical Domestic Consumption Values in July 2026. Households now use around 7% less electricity and 17% less gas than before. Both figures describe the identical cap.

Is the rise 4% or 3.6%?

Ofgem headlines 4%, while the typical-bill change of £60 on £1,663 is 3.6%. On the old consumption basis the increase is 3.9%, which rounds to 4%. Practically speaking the difference changes nothing you pay. So treat £60 a year as the number that matters.

Does the October cap affect me if I am on a fixed tariff?

No. Roughly 11 million households, about 35% of the total, hold fixed deals. They keep their agreed rates until the deal ends. However, the Government’s removal of VAT from electricity does reach fixed-tariff customers, and suppliers apply it automatically.

Why has gas gone up so much more than electricity?

Wholesale gas costs have risen 11% over the past three months, which feeds straight into the gas unit rate. Electricity, by contrast, gained a cushion: the VAT removal, worth roughly £45 on the cap, plus a lower standing charge. Consequently gas bills rise 8% while electricity-only households see under 1%.

Is prepayment really cheaper than direct debit now?

Under this cap, prepayment customers pay the lowest cap rates. Ofgem puts the difference at an average of about £45 against direct debit. That said, prepayment suits some households and not others. So weigh the running cost against the practical trade-offs first.

Worth a look while you are here

Best energy switching bonus UK: the current sign-up credits across suppliers, kept up to date.
Octopus Agile vs Tracker: how the two smart tariffs differ, and who each one tends to suit.
Chip app: where the money you save on bills can quietly go instead.
Best savings account UK: current rates, plus what the small print usually hides.
OneStream broadband discount code: another household bill worth attacking this autumn.

Disclaimer: rates, tariffs, offers and terms change frequently. The figures above were correct on 27 August 2026. Nothing here is financial advice, and CoolCuration is not FCA authorised. Consider speaking to a qualified adviser about your own circumstances. Also check any provider’s own site for current terms. Finally, this article contains affiliate or referral links. If you click through and sign up, I may earn a commission or referral bonus at no extra cost to you. That does not affect my editorial view.

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