Electricity prices in the United Kingdom
What a household in the United Kingdom pays for electricity, where the power comes from, and how the country differs from its neighbours.
Most households in England, Scotland and Wales do not pay an hourly market price for electricity. What sets their bill is Ofgem's price cap: a ceiling on the unit rate per kilowatt-hour and on the daily standing charge of default tariffs, reviewed every quarter. This page shows the current cap alongside the live generation mix reported by NESO, the publicly owned National Energy System Operator.
Behind the cap sits a wholesale market pulled in two directions. Gas-fired power stations still set the price in most hours, so the cost of gas feeds straight into bills. Wind, now the largest single source of generation, drags prices down when it blows, sometimes below zero overnight. Coal is gone: Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire, the last coal plant, closed in September 2024.
Rate: ECB 22/10/2026
Britain's exchange prices may not be freely republished, so this page shows Ofgem's price cap instead: the most a standard tariff may charge per kWh and per day.
Where does the electricity in the United Kingdom come from right now?
Generation in the United Kingdom at 23:30, by energy source. Shares of generation excluding imports, worked out every half hour.
Source: NESO Carbon Intensity API (carbonintensity.org.uk), CC BY 4.0
Ofgem's price cap
The most a standard (default) tariff may charge in England, Scotland and Wales, 1 October 2026 – 31 December 2026, averaged for Direct Debit.
The cap limits the unit rate and the standing charge, not the total bill. Rates vary by region and by how you pay.
According to Ofgem, there is no VAT on household electricity from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027.
How the electricity price works in the United Kingdom
One national price, capped at the retail end
Wholesale electricity in Great Britain is traded as a single national market with one price, whatever the region. Day-ahead auctions are run by the exchanges EPEX SPOT and N2EX, and since Brexit took effect at the start of 2021 Britain has been outside the European day-ahead market coupling, so capacity on its interconnectors is allocated separately. In 2025 the government decided to keep the single national price rather than split the country into zones.
Ofgem, the energy regulator for Great Britain, resets the cap every three months from its assessment of wholesale, network and policy costs. It applies to standard variable and other default tariffs; fixed-price deals sit outside it.
Standing charge, unit rate and what is folded into them
A British bill has two prices: the unit rate for every kilowatt-hour and a standing charge paid each day regardless of use. Both bundle wholesale energy, the transmission and distribution networks, the cost of balancing the system, the supplier's operating costs and margin, and policy costs that fund schemes such as Contracts for Difference for low-carbon generation and support for vulnerable households. VAT is added on top.
The cap varies by region, because network costs differ between, say, the north of Scotland and London, and by payment method: direct debit, standard credit on receipt of a bill, or a prepayment meter. The figure on this page is Ofgem's average for direct debit customers.
Why gas still decides the price
Because gas plants are usually the last ones needed to meet demand, their fuel and carbon costs set the wholesale price in most hours. That is why the 2022 gas crisis hit British households so hard, and why the cap still tracks gas forward prices closely.
Wind works the other way. On blustery days with low demand, wholesale prices drop sharply, and Scottish wind farms are sometimes paid to switch off because the grid cannot carry all their output south. Those constraint costs end up on everyone's bills. Cold, calm winter evenings are the expensive hours, and imports over the interconnectors help cover them.
Wind first, gas second, no coal at all
Over 2025 wind was the largest source of British generation, much of it offshore in the North Sea and the Irish Sea, with Scotland hosting a large share of the onshore fleet. Gas came close behind. Nuclear stations operated by EDF supply a steady base, although several older ones have closed and Hinkley Point C in Somerset is still under construction.
Biomass is a distinctively British ingredient: Drax power station in North Yorkshire converted units from coal to imported wood pellets. Solar has grown quickly on rooftops and fields, mostly in the south of England, while hydro is a small and mainly Scottish contribution.
An island tied to its neighbours by cable
Subsea links reach most of Britain's neighbours. Several cables cross the Channel to France, whose nuclear fleet often makes it a net exporter; BritNed runs to the Netherlands and Nemo Link to Belgium. North Sea Link imports hydropower from Norway, and Viking Link, opened in 2023, connects to wind-heavy Denmark.
To the west, two cables from Wales run to Ireland, whose market is shared with Northern Ireland and which leans on the same pairing of gas and wind. Compared with France or Norway, British wholesale prices move with gas far more closely.
United Kingdom compared with its neighbours
In 2025, wind made 35%, gas made 32% and nuclear made 14% of the electricity generated in the United Kingdom. Wind, solar, hydro, nuclear and bioenergy together made 66% of generation in the United Kingdom.
Gross electricity generation in 2025 by energy source. Source: Eurostat (nrg_bal_peh). Pumped hydro is left out. United Kingdom: NESO, historic generation mix, without imports and pumped storage.
Voltly does not cover United Kingdom yet
Voltly shows hourly prices in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, France, Netherlands and Belgium.
Voltly is for Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, France, the Netherlands and Belgium.
Questions about the electricity price in the United Kingdom
- What is the electricity price cap in Britain right now?
- Ofgem's cap for 1 October 2026 – 31 December 2026 is 26.32 p per kWh and a standing charge of 54.83 p a day, averaged for England, Scotland and Wales on Direct Debit.
- How much of the electricity in the United Kingdom comes from wind?
- 35% of the electricity generated in the United Kingdom came from wind in 2025 (NESO), the largest single source.
- How does the power mix in the United Kingdom compare with the neighbours?
- In 2025: United Kingdom: wind 35%, gas 32%; Ireland: gas 48%, wind 37%; France: nuclear 67%, hydro 12%; Netherlands: gas 36%, wind 27%; Belgium: nuclear 41%, gas 19%.
- Does the price cap limit how much I pay in total?
- No. The cap sets the maximum unit rate and standing charge a supplier may charge on a default tariff, not a maximum bill. What you pay depends on how much electricity you use, your region and how you pay. Fixed-price deals are not covered by the cap at all and can be cheaper or dearer than the capped rate.
- Why are there no hourly day-ahead prices for Great Britain on this page?
- Britain's day-ahead prices are set in auctions run by EPEX SPOT and N2EX, and their data may not be freely republished. Since most households pay a rate set under Ofgem's cap rather than an hourly price, the page shows the cap's unit rate and standing charge instead, together with NESO's generation mix.
- Does the Ofgem price cap apply in Northern Ireland?
- No. Ofgem regulates Great Britain only. Northern Ireland has its own regulator, the Utility Regulator, and its wholesale electricity is traded in the all-island Single Electricity Market together with Ireland. Household prices there follow separate rules and can differ markedly from the GB cap.
Related pages
Sources
- Source: NESO Carbon Intensity API (carbonintensity.org.uk), CC BY 4.0.
- Supported by National Energy SO Open Data.
- Source: Eurostat (nrg_bal_peh).
- Ofgem, energy price cap. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Exchange rates: European Central Bank (ECB), euro reference rates – free to use.