British household energy bills to rise 80 percent, regulator says.

Most British households will pay an 80 percent increase in energy prices this fall.

The cap on what a typical household would pay for electricity and natural gas over the course of a year will increase to 3,548 pounds from the current 1,971. Consumers and businesses in Britain and other European countries are being hit with massive price increases for energy as the war in Ukraine stretches already tight markets for electricity and natural gas.

Jonathan Brearley, chief executive of the regulator, said that this would be devastating. He said that prices look like they are continuing to rise.

In a recent note to clients, Martin Young, a utility analyst at Investec, wrote that the calls for support would get louder.

The increase that takes effect in October affects about 24 million households and follows a 54 percent increase in April. Mr. Young thinks there will be a jump in January to $4,020.

Britain's consumer prices rose last month at the fastest rate in 40 years, squeezing household budgets. In October, the Bank of England predicts that inflation will peak at 13 percent because of the new energy costs.

In Britain and across Europe, the price hikes and how to deal with them have become a hot topic of political discussion. While the British government has offered a package that includes £400 per household to help residents with soaring bills, a wide range of politicians, consumer advocates and energy executives now say that more force is needed to cushion households from the surge in energy costs.

The Labour Party said that it would increase windfall taxes on oil and gas companies in order to pay for a freeze on energy tariffs where they are currently.

Wholesale electricity and natural gas costs were more than doubled by Ofgem. The majority of the new price cap is accounted for by these.

Mr Brearley said that the role of Ofgem is to protect consumers from profiteering by suppliers. He said that this is beyond the capacity of the industry and the regulators.

The new prime minister will be chosen by the Conservative Party in early September. Mr. Brearley called for intervention in the energy markets.

The prime minister and his or her team will need to act quickly to address this. It looks like the outlook for the winter is very difficult.