Household energy bills are predicted to rise again in April in a further blow to pensioners stripped of winter fuel payments.
Energy consultancy Cornwall Insight said it expects regulator Ofgem to reveal that the typical household energy bill will go up by 5%, or £85, to £1,823.
The group said the jump was because of an increase in wholesale gas prices across Europe.
Dennis Reed, director of the Silver Voices campaign group, said the latest hike is “like being kicked when you’re down” for older people.
He said: “It’s pain upon pain. It’s like being kicked when you’re down. This is all loading onto older people with modest incomes and it nails the lie that pensioners are better off under Labour.
“It just doesn’t stand up when we get all these increases one after another. It went up in October, it went up in January, it’s going up again in April.
“It just shows how cruel it was for the winter fuel payment to be taken away. It will still be cold enough in many parts of the UK in April to have to have your heating on.”
The Labour Government has faced an ongoing backlash for restricting winter fuel payments to only OAPs on pension credit in a bid to save up to £1.5 billion a year.
Ofgem changes the price cap for households every three months, largely based on the cost of energy on wholesale markets, with the regulator due to confirm the level for April to June next Tuesday.
Dr Craig Lowrey, principal consultant at Cornwall Insight, said: “Households have been hit hard over the past few months, and with bills set to rise for a third consecutive time the pressure is not letting up.”
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has written to Ofgem calling on the regulator to move faster to protect consumers.
Simon Francis, coordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said: “Ed Miliband is right to say gas is to blame for current soaring energy bills and we need to see more action from Ofgem.
“But the actions of the Chancellor in axing Winter Fuel Payments have made the situation so much worse for older people now living in cold damp homes.
“As well as taking action to move us onto cheaper renewables, the Government needs to be bold with reforms of the energy market, fully fund a Warm Homes Plan to boost energy efficiency in buildings and provide support for elderly, disabled and vulnerable people who are suffering this winter.”
The energy price cap was introduced by the Government in January 2019 and sets a maximum price that energy suppliers can charge consumers in England, Scotland and Wales for each kilowatt hour (kWh) of energy they use.
It does not limit total bills, because householders still pay for the amount of energy they consume.
The cap is significantly lower than at the peak of the energy crisis, which was fuelled by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
It comes as Labour pushes ahead with its policy of building out renewable energy, with a goal of reaching 95% clean power across the electricity grid by 2030.