January price cap forecasts hit 27% as E.ON Next raises its prediction to £2,183

E.ON Next raised its forecast for the 1 January to 31 March 2027 price cap on 26 October, from £2,130 to £2,183 a year for a typical dual-fuel household paying by Direct Debit. That is £460 (26.7%) above the £1,723 cap in force now, and within £2 of British Gas's £2,185 (15 October). After drifting apart in mid-October, the two most recent supplier forecasts now agree.

On Budget day MoneySavingExpert said January is “expected to rise about 27%”, and the Treasury's own Budget document says the cap is “predicted to rise by more than 25%”. Ofgem sets it from wholesale prices over an assessment window that closes on 17 November, and confirms the figure by 25 November.

The latest forecasts

All figures use Ofgem's typical household of 2,500 kWh electricity and 9,500 kWh gas a year. E.ON Next rates its forecast as lowest confidence. EDF's £2,083 is the latest figure we could confirm on its own site, and Cornwall Insight's £1,999 predates October's rise in gas, so both now look low.

The Budget didn't touch January

The 28 October Budget made no intervention on the January cap. What it did change lands later or elsewhere: 0% VAT on electricity now runs to 1 July 2027 instead of 31 March (the Treasury says that takes around £50 off April's cap), Ofgem has been asked to abolish gas standing charges by the end of 2027 or as soon as possible after, and households in council tax bands A–D in England get a £100 payment from January. Our Budget round-up has the details.

E.ON Next also shows April to June 2027 at £2,358 and British Gas at £2,190, both low confidence. Both were probably made before the VAT extension, so April's figures should come down by about the Treasury's £50 if nothing else moves.

What it could mean for your bill

The savings calculator applies the January forecast to your own usage and puts it next to today's fixed rate.

Octopus repriced its fixes on 27 October

Octopus replaced both fixes on 27 October, and both went up. Averaged across its 14 regions for a typical household, the 12M Fixed is now about £1,948 a year (from £1,900) and the 18M Fixed about £1,888 (from £1,792):

Against about £2,180, the 12M is roughly £232 a year cheaper than the forecast cap and the 18M roughly £292. The 12M costs about £225 a year more than October's cap, so it is roughly break-even by the end of March and only pulls ahead if April stays high. The 18M is about £165 above the cap and would be about £32 ahead by March, in return for a longer lock-in and a bigger exit fee. Regional prices for the 12M run from about £1,885 to £2,052, so check the quote for your postcode.

Not ready to commit? Flexible Octopus follows the cap, has no exit fee, gets you the £50 referral credit, and lets you move onto a fix from your account later. Our guide to fixing or staying variable works through the decision.

Every forecast goes on our price cap predictions tracker as it lands, and our 16 October report covers the previous round of rises.

Sources: E.ON Next, British Gas, MoneySavingExpert, HM Treasury — Budget 2026, Octopus Energy product data and Ofgem. Figures last checked 28 October 2026.