Citizens Advice has warned that millions of people are being left in the cold and dark as prepayment meters continue to be cut off.
New research from the charity found that 3.2 million people across Great Britain ran out of credit on their prepayment meter last year because they couldn’t afford to top up their energy bills.
This figure equates to around one household cut-off every 10 seconds, said Citizens Advice.
Citizens Advice says for most it’s not just a one-off as it has found more than two million people are being disconnected at least once a month.
More than one in five have been cut off in the last year and spent more than 24 hours without gas and electricity.
In particular, the charity is the most concerned about disabled people and those living with long-term health conditions.
Nearly one in five households include someone in this group who ran out of credit last year did not have energy for two days.
Citizens Advice previously raised concerns to Ofgem and the government that it had seen evidence of suppliers forcing people in these groups onto prepayment meters.
In October, Ofgem warned suppliers that not enough was being done to identify customers in vulnerable circumstances before installing a prepayment meter.
However, in the month following Ofgem’s intervention more than a third of prepayment meter households including a disabled person or someone with a long-term health condition, were cut off from their energy supply at least once.
Citizens Advice says that is more than 470,000 struggling households left without energy.
The charity is now calling for a total ban on forced prepayment meter installations until new protections are introduced, ensuring households can no longer be fully cut off from gas and electricity.
Citizens Advice has seen a 229% increase in the past year in the number of people coming for help who can't afford to top up their prepayment meter and in in 2022 it saw more people who couldn't top up their prepayment meter than it did in the whole of the last 10 years combined.
Based on Ofgem figures, Citizens Advice estimates that around 600,000 people were forced onto a prepayment meter because they couldn't afford their energy bills in 2022.
It also predicts 160,000 more people could be moved onto a prepayment meter by the end of winter if no further action is taken.
Dame Clare Moriarty, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said:“All too often the people finding it hardest to pay their bills are being forced onto a prepayment meter they can’t afford to top up. This puts them at real risk of being left in cold, damp and dark homes.
“The staggering rise in the cost of living means many simply cannot afford to heat and power their homes to safe levels.
“New protections are needed to stop people being fully cut off from gas and electricity. Until then, there must be a total ban on energy companies forcing those already at breaking point onto prepayment meters. If Ofgem doesn't act, the government must intervene.”
