Price cap up 13 per cent: why more Lancashire households are turning to solar and storage

Energy bills are heading in the wrong direction once more.

On 27 May, Ofgem confirmed that the price cap will rise by 13 per cent from 1 July 2026, taking a typical dual fuel household paying by Direct Debit to £1,862 a year, an increase of £221. The relief many hoped for in the autumn now looks unlikely. 

Christian Gillibrand from EcoGiants talks about energy bills.

What is actually changing

The price cap sets the maximum that suppliers can charge for each unit of gas and electricity, plus the daily standing charge, for customers on standard variable tariffs. It is reviewed every three months.

From 1 July, a typical Direct Debit customer in England, Scotland and Wales will pay around 26.11p per unit of electricity and 7.33p per unit of gas, with daily standing charges of 57.19p for electricity and 29.04p for gas.

Your actual bill depends on how much you use, where you live and your meter type, so the headline figure is a guide rather than a ceiling.

Ofgem has attributed the July rise to higher wholesale gas prices linked to conflict in the Middle East.

Why it matters across Lancashire

For Lancashire, the pattern matters more than any single number. The cap has now moved up and down four times in little over a year, and the direction of travel is rarely in the household's favour for long.

For business owners keeping a close eye on overheads, and for the many who are also homeowners, that volatility makes budgeting harder and chips away at any sense that lower bills are around the corner.

Taking back a degree of control

It is one reason a growing number of Lancashire households are choosing to generate their own electricity.

A well specified solar PV system produces power during daylight hours that you use first, cutting the volume you draw from the grid at capped rates. Pair it with battery storage such as the Tesla Powerwall 3 and you can hold surplus generation for the evening, when demand and prices are highest. Many homes also earn from exporting unused power back to the grid.

The appeal is not only the saving. Solar and storage turn an unpredictable monthly cost into a largely fixed, owned asset, with the equipment carrying warranties of up to 20 years. As the cap continues its quarterly swings, the share of your energy that you control yourself only becomes more valuable.

A local route to it
EcoGiants, based in Clitheroe, installs solar PV and battery storage across Lancashire and the North West.

The company is a Tesla Certified Installer and holds MCS, TrustMark, HIES, RECC and FCA approvals, with work carried out by its own crews and Tesla Certified team rather than subcontracted out.

Every system is quoted with its warranties stated as clearly as its price, and the company holds a 4.5 rating on Trustpilot. Homeowners comparing quotes can also use the £100 Price Beater, which responds to a genuine like for like quote from another installer.

With the next cap decision due in August and a further rise forecast, households weighing up solar have a clear window to act before the autumn. To see what solar PV and battery storage could do for your home, visit EcoGiants Solar or call 01200 411830.