Martin Lewis says 'bad news' as latest energy price cap forecast announced

The latest energy price cap forecasts for later this year have been released, showing a drop in the average UK gas and electric bill of around £130 this summer. But the consumer finance guru Martin Lewis says the announcement is still 'bad news'.

Consultancy firm Cornwall Insight's latest forecast shows the £1690 energy price cap that is due to come into effect in April is likely to fall by a further eight per cent to £1560 in July, which is good news for households but a smaller drop than previously forecast. This is due to changes made by regulator Ofgem and fluctuations in the energy market.

Martin Lewis pointed out on X that this July fall in the average energy bill was predicted to be close to 13 per cent but has been revised down, but would still save people money.

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He wrote: "Bad News. The new energy price cap predictions just out from @CornwallInsight show rates aren't longer looking to drop as much as they were. Though remember the further out the more crystal ball it is."

The energy price cap is not a hard limit on how much customers pay each month, but a cap on the price that energy companies can charge to use their service and per unit of energy used, with the April 1 £1690 total based on the average household's electricity usage. But this can be higher or lower depending on usage.

Forecasts for the energy price cap were revised up following changes made by Ofgem to make prepayment metres more equal to Direct Debit and remove the disparity in cost, while the wholesale cost of energy has risen more than previously expected - costs that are likely to be passed on to customers.

From April 1, the average energy bill