Price Rises That Overwhelmed UK Energy Suppliers to Hit Consumers in 2022 | Farsnews Agency

(FNA)- Soaring gas prices consigned a string of energy suppliers to the graveyard in 2021, and will lead to runaway household bills next year as the sector continues to struggle.

Energy suppliers had been paying 54p per therm of gas at the beginning of the year. By September, that had reached more than £3 and peaked even further to £4.50 just before Christmas, The Independent reported.

It was an unprecedented spike caused by something of a perfect storm on global markets.

Firstly, last winter was unusually cold in the Northern hemisphere. Gas is still a key fuel in heating homes and businesses in much of the world, so the cold temperatures led to a spike in demand, and countries started eating into their gas reserves.

These reserves could have been topped up again over the summer, but once again the weather had other ideas.

An unusually windless summer meant that wind turbines produced less electricity so gas power plants had to burn more than normal.

Meanwhile, less new supply came onto the market than first thought and demand from China was higher than expected.

All in all, it meant that gas was in short supply, and as a result prices spiked.