Average Gas and Electricity Bill in the UK: £1,664 a Year

The average UK household energy bill is £1,664 a year, or around £139 a month, for a medium-usage home on a dual fuel standard variable tariff paying by Direct Debit. That figure is based on Ofgem’s price cap for 1 July to 30 September 2026 and is correct as of August 2026.

Three things move a household furthest from that average: how much energy you actually use, which region you live in, and how you pay your bill. Together they can account for a difference of more than £1,000 a year between two otherwise similar homes.

What Is the Average UK Energy Bill?

The average annual dual fuel energy bill in the UK is £1,664, which works out at roughly £139 a month.

Split by fuel, that breaks down as follows.

What that figure assumes

This is not what everyone pays. It is a benchmark, and it rests on four specific assumptions:

• Medium usage, defined by Ofgem as 2,500 kWh of electricity and 9,500 kWh of gas a year
• A standard variable tariff priced at the level of the energy price cap
• Payment by Direct Debit
• The GB average across England, Scotland and Wales, including VAT at 5%

The underlying rates are 26.11p per kWh for electricity with a 57.19p daily standing charge, and 7.33p per kWh for gas with a 29.04p daily standing charge.

Source: Ofgem energy price cap, 1 July to 30 September 2026. Typical Domestic Consumption Values updated 1 July 2026.

Why you may have seen £1,862 quoted instead

On 1 July 2026 Ofgem lowered the assumed usage figures it uses to convert unit rates into an annual bill, because households are using measurably less energy than they were. Electricity fell from 2,700 to 2,500 kWh a year and gas from 11,500 to 9,500 kWh. Under the old assumptions, the same rates produce £1,862; under the new ones, £1,664.

Ofgem announced the cap in May using the old figures, then switched to the new ones on 1 July. A lot of coverage published in between still carries the higher number. The unit rates did not change between the two.

Average Energy Bill by Household Size

Bills scale with usage, and usage broadly scales with the size of the property and the number of people in it. The figures below use Ofgem’s low, medium and high consumption benchmarks, updated on 1 July 2026.

All figures at the July to September 2026 price cap, Direct Debit, GB average, including VAT.

How to read these bands

They are usage bands, not bedroom counts. Ofgem defines low, medium and high by consumption, not by property type. The bedroom labels above are a rough guide. A well-insulated four-bedroom house with two occupants can easily use less than a draughty two-bedroom flat with five.

The standing charge is fixed regardless of usage. Every household pays £209 a year for electricity and £106 for gas before using a single unit — £315 in total. That is why the low-usage bill is not proportionally as low as the usage figures suggest, and why cutting consumption has diminishing returns at the bottom end.

Electricity costs more than gas despite using far less of it. A medium household uses nearly four times as much gas as electricity by volume, yet the electricity bill is higher. Electricity currently costs around 3.6 times as much per kWh.

For a fuller breakdown of consumption by property type, see our guide to average gas and electricity usage.

Average Energy Bill by Region

The price cap is not a single number. Ofgem sets 14 separate regional caps, one for each electricity distribution area in Great Britain, and your rate is determined by your postcode rather than by your supplier.

The table below shows the capped rates for each region, with the annual dual fuel bill a medium-usage household would pay there, ordered from cheapest to most expensive.

Direct Debit rates, 1 July to 30 September 2026, including VAT at 5%. Annual figures calculated at Ofgem’s medium consumption values.

The cheapest and most expensive regions

The East Midlands is the cheapest region at £1,611 a year for a medium-usage household. It has the lowest electricity unit rate in the country at 25.10p and the lowest gas unit rate at 7.19p.

North Wales and Mersey is the most expensive at £1,749. It carries both the highest electricity unit rate at 27.66p and by far the highest electricity standing charge at 70.76p a day — nearly £100 a year more than London’s.

Why regional differences exist

Four factors drive the variation, and none of them is within your control.

Network costs. Each region has its own distribution network operator with its own costs for maintaining cables, poles and substations. Rural networks cover more ground per customer and cost more to run.

Distance from generation. Moving electricity long distances incurs losses and transmission charges. Regions far from major generation sites carry higher costs.

Population density. Serving a dense urban area spreads fixed network costs across more customers. London has the lowest electricity standing charge in the country largely for this reason.

Local demand patterns. Colder regions use more electricity for heating, which affects how network operators size and cost their infrastructure.

Note that the pattern differs between the two components. The North East and Yorkshire have low unit rates but high standing charges, which makes them relatively expensive for low users and better value for heavy ones. London is the reverse.

Average Bill by Payment Method

How you pay changes what you pay. Ofgem caps each payment method separately.

Ofgem price cap, 1 July to 30 September 2026, medium usage.

What this actually means

Paying on receipt of a bill costs £133 a year more than Direct Debit. Suppliers carry more cost and more risk collecting money after the fact, and the cap reflects that. If you pay quarterly by cheque, card or bank transfer, moving to Direct Debit is one of the few changes that saves money with no trade-off.

Prepayment is no longer the most expensive option. This is a genuine change and a lot of older advice online has not caught up. Ofgem levelised prepayment standing charges in 2024, and the prepayment cap now sits slightly below the Direct Debit cap. Prepayment still has real drawbacks — self-disconnection risk, fewer tariffs to choose from, and the practical hassle of topping up — but a price penalty is no longer one of them.

The Economy 7 figure is not comparable. It looks dramatically cheaper because it assumes 3,400 kWh of electricity and no gas at all. Economy 7 households typically heat with electricity, so the comparison is not like for like.

More detail in our guides to prepayment meters and standing charges.

How UK Energy Consumption Is Changing

Understanding the direction of travel helps explain why bills move the way they do.

Government figures published in DUKES 2026 show UK domestic electricity consumption reached 96.2 TWh in 2025, a 2.6% rise on 2024 but still 7.1% below 2019 levels. Domestic gas demand was broadly flat, down 0.8% on the year and around 15% below its 2017–2021 average.

Two trends are running in opposite directions:

The long-term decline is real and mostly structural. Efficiency improvements in lighting and appliances account for a large share of it — LED lighting alone transformed household electricity demand over the past decade. Better insulation and more efficient boilers have done similar work on gas. Ofgem’s own consumption benchmarks fell by 7% for electricity and 17% for gas in its July 2026 review.

Electricity consumption is now edging back up. Heat pumps, electric vehicles and the general electrification of the home are pushing demand in the other direction. Domestic electricity use has risen year on year since 2023.

Why a falling headline figure can still mean a higher bill

This is the trap in reading energy news. When Ofgem lowered its consumption assumptions on 1 July 2026, the quoted typical bill fell from £1,862 to £1,664 — a drop of nearly £200. No household saved a penny. The unit rates were unchanged.

Why Is My Bill Higher Than Average?

If your bill sits well above the figures on this page, the cause is usually one of the following.

Property age, insulation and heating type. A pre-1930 solid-wall house can use two to three times the gas of a modern equivalent. Loft and cavity wall insulation, double glazing and boiler efficiency all move the number substantially.

Electric heating. Homes without a gas connection — around one in six UK properties — heat with electricity, which costs roughly 3.6 times as much per kWh. A high electricity bill with no gas bill at all is often perfectly normal for these households, and comparing it against a dual fuel average is misleading.

Occupancy and working patterns. More people means more heating hours, more hot water and more appliance use. Working from home adds daytime heating in winter, which is one of the largest single swings a household can experience.

High-draw appliances. EV charging, hot tubs, electric showers, tumble dryers and dehumidifiers are the usual culprits. A hot tub alone can add several hundred pounds a year.

Being on a standard variable tariff or a deemed contract. If you have never switched, or you have recently moved house, you are almost certainly paying the capped rate — which is the legal maximum, not a competitive price.

Estimated meter readings. If your bills show “E” next to the reading, your supplier is guessing. Overestimates inflate your bill and build up credit you could be keeping. Submit an actual reading and the figure corrects itself.

How to Bring Your Bill Below Average

Four things are worth doing, roughly in order of impact.

1. Move off the standard variable tariff. This is the single largest lever for most households. A fixed tariff locks your unit rate for the term, and fixed deals are frequently available below the capped rate. Fixing is not automatically cheaper — the only way to know is to compare what is available for your postcode today.
2. Switch to Direct Debit if you are not on it. Worth £133 a year against paying on receipt of a bill, with no downside beyond needing a bank account.
3. Submit actual meter readings regularly. Monthly is ideal. It stops estimates drifting and means any credit balance you build is real rather than an artefact of a bad guess.
4. Find your highest-draw appliances. Heat is where the money goes — dryers, showers, ovens, electric heaters. Our electricity cost calculator will tell you what any appliance costs to run at current rates, which is usually more revealing than a general energy-saving checklist.

One thing to note before October

The government has said it expects suppliers to pass the saving on to all customers, including those on fixed tariffs.

If you are weighing up a fixed deal, this is already reflected in how suppliers are pricing. It is not a reason to delay.

FAQs

What is the average electricity bill per month in the UK?

The average monthly electricity bill is around £72 for a medium-usage household, or £861 a year, based on Ofgem’s price cap for July to September 2026. That assumes 2,500 kWh of annual usage on a standard variable tariff paid by Direct Debit, and includes the standing charge.

What is a normal energy bill for a 3 bedroom house?

Around £1,664 a year, or £139 a month, for gas and electricity combined. That is Ofgem’s medium-usage benchmark: 9,500 kWh of gas and 2,500 kWh of electricity. A well-insulated three-bedroom home with two occupants will typically fall below this figure.

Is £200 a month a lot for energy?

It is above average. A medium-usage household pays around £139 a month, and even a high-usage 4–5 bedroom home averages £194. At £200 a month, you are likely on a standard variable tariff, using electric heating, or running high-draw appliances — all worth checking.

Why is my energy bill so much higher than average?

The most common causes are poor insulation, electric rather than gas heating, high occupancy, high-draw appliances such as EV chargers or hot tubs, and being on a standard variable tariff. Estimated rather than actual meter readings also inflate bills, and are easily corrected by submitting a real reading.

Which UK region has the most expensive electricity?

North Wales and Merseyside. It has both the highest electricity unit rate at 27.66p per kWh and the highest standing charge at 70.76p a day. The East Midlands is the cheapest, at 25.10p per kWh. For identical usage, the gap across all fuels is around £138 a year.

How much electricity does the average UK home use per year?

Ofgem’s medium benchmark is 2,500 kWh of electricity a year, roughly 6.8 kWh a day. Low-usage homes use around 1,600 kWh and high-usage homes around 3,800 kWh. These figures were revised down on 1 July 2026 to reflect falling household consumption.

Conclusion

The average UK household energy bill is £1,664 a year, or around £139 a month, correct as of August 2026 under the price cap for 1 July to 30 September 2026.

An average is only a benchmark, and no household is average. Two things determine what you actually pay: how many units you use, and what you pay for each one. The first takes insulation, habits and time. The second takes a few minutes.

Compare energy prices for your postcode, or work out what your appliances are costing you with our electricity cost calculator.

Last updated: 3 August 2026. Figures reflect the Ofgem energy price cap for 1 July to 30 September 2026 and the Typical Domestic Consumption Values effective from 1 July 2026. Next review due at the October 2026 price cap announcement.