Last updated: 17 September 2026

By Stiv · Design, technology and personal finance

Ofgem says fix. I checked the sums.

Ofgem reckons you can beat the October cap by £100 or more, so the obvious question is whether to fix your energy tariff before it lands on 1 October. So I ran the only supplier prices you can check without handing over a postcode against Ofgem’s own regional cap tables. On 30 August, Octopus’s twelve month fix beat the cap in every region of Britain, by £47 to £82. The version on sale since 11 September costs more than the cap in every region, by £75 to £117.

Update, 17 September 2026. Octopus withdrew the 12M Fixed tariff I first tested on 5 September. I have re-run the test on its replacement, on sale since 11 September, and the table and chart below now show those prices. The 12-month fix costs £75 to £117 a year more than the October cap in every region, £93 on average. Octopus 18M Fixed lands between £7 below and £33 above it. The Bank of England held its base rate at 3.75% on 17 September. That decision does not set energy prices, but the rising energy costs behind it are the same ones pushing fixed tariffs up. More on that on my Bank of England base rate page.

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. It does not affect my editorial view.

This is not financial advice, and CoolCuration is not FCA authorised. Tariffs, rates and offers change constantly, so always check the supplier’s own site before you commit.

Thinking about switching as well as fixing?

My Octopus Energy page keeps the current switching credit and the sign-up steps up to date, so you are never working from a stale offer.

See the Octopus referral offer

Read more

Last updated: 17 September 2026

By Stiv · Design, technology and personal finance

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 are wrong, and the reasons come down to VAT and a change in how Ofgem measures a typical home.

This article contains affiliate or referral links. If you click through and sign up, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It does not affect my editorial view.

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.

Weighing up a switch before October?

My Octopus Energy page keeps the current referral credit and the switching steps up to date. That way you are not working from a stale offer.

See the Octopus referral offer

Read more

Last updated: 27 August 2026

By Stiv · Design, technology and personal finance

The energy price cap July 2026 is going up by 13% from 1 July, and for a typical dual-fuel household paying by direct debit that means an annual bill of £1,862, which is £221 more than today. In other words, you have roughly five weeks to do something about it before the new rates land. Here is the good bit, though: for most people this rise is voluntary, because a fixed deal below the cap can sidestep it entirely.

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. It does not affect my editorial view.

Energy prices, tariffs, and the Ofgem price cap change quarterly. This post reflects the Q3 2026 cap announced 27 May 2026. Always verify current rates with your supplier or at ofgem.gov.uk.

Read more