Households facing bills £2,000 higher than last year

Monthly energy costs, meanwhile, are set to peak at £613 in January - which the thinktank says will be unaffordable for many. However, this presents the biggest risk to prepayment meter customers who are unable to spread these costs over multiple months. 

Energy price increases coincide with the fact that nearly 80% of domestic use takes place over the winter months, meaning prices are going up just as demand begins to be at its highest. 

The thinktank, therefore, believes any new policy interventions account for household incomes and energy need, however, no proposals from government or opposition parties have managed to solve this twin dilemma. 

One idea it has put forward is a social tariff - where qualifying households are offered a discounted rate on energy bill, with a 30% discount for low-to-middle income households able to offset the increase in energy costs since Ofgem’s prediction of a £2,800 annual price cap.

If, however, there’s no time to implement this, the thinktank says lowering energy prices could deliver a similar result for all, while recouping some of the cost and reducing what would otherwise be large gains to better-off families, through an additional 1p on all rate of income tax.