Citizens Advice reveal the number of Britons unable to afford electricity in 2022

Citizens Advice bureau says it saw more people who were unable to top up their meter in 2022 than in the whole of the last 10 years combined

An estimated 3.2 million people across Britain ran out of credit on their prepayment meter last year, the equivalent of one every 10 seconds, because they could not afford to top it up, Citizens Advice said.

The advisory service said it saw more people who were unable to top up their prepayment meter in 2022 than in the whole of the last 10 years combined, breaking the charity’s predictions for the number of householders it would help as the cost-of-living crisis took hold.

Furthermore, more than two million people were being disconnected at least once a month and 19% of those cut off in the past year then spent at least 24 hours without gas or electricity, leaving them unable to turn the heating on or cook a hot meal.