Energy bills are soaring in Europe. What are countries doing to help you pay them?

Spiralling inflation has sparked a cost-of-living crisis across Europe, and governments are stepping in to try to shield households and businesses from the seemingly never-ending surge in energy prices.

For many families these days, it feels like paycheques are immediately evaporating as inflation drives up the cost of groceries and fuel, landlords increase rent and utility bills keep soaring.

Inflation jumped to a new all-time high of 8.9 per cent in July in Europe for the 19 countries bound by the euro, fueled by rising energy costs. 

There’s no sign of the energy crisis improving any time soon, as Europe prepares for the possibility that Russia will fully cut off its gas supplies in retaliation for Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine.

In one of the most sombre warnings so far, Belgian prime minister Alexander De Croo said Europe could face up to 10 difficult winters as a result of the standoff.

European Union member states are largely responsible for their national energy policies, and EU rules allow them to take emergency measures to protect consumers from rising costs. Here’s a look at what governments across the continent are doing to help.

Britain has a price cap on the most widely used household energy contracts, but bills have been soaring nonetheless. For most British households, power bills are forecast by analysts to rise to around £3,500 (€4,136) a year. The most pessimistic projections shoot to £6,000 (€7,090) a year.

A study by the University of York predicts that over half of all UK households will be trapped in fuel poverty by January 2023, and the cost of living crisis is at the forefront of the battle between Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak to succeed Boris Johnson as the country's new prime minister.

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