Six in 10 Welsh adults expect to ration energy over winter
New polling by a fuel poverty charity has found that six in ten (60%) adults in Wales say they will likely ration their energy in the coming three months.
These findings demonstrate the impact fuel poverty is having on households across Wales days ahead of National Energy Action’s Fuel Poverty Awareness Day (26 November) and just as the new energy price cap for January is predicted to fall by £22.
Ofgem will confirm the new price cap level at 7am tomorrow (21 November).
The survey of 1,506 Welsh adults was carried out online, with fieldwork undertaken between 10 and 17 November 2025.
It found that a higher proportion of adults in Wales (60%) expect to ration their energy in the next three months, when compared to in January this year (56%).
Worryingly, three-quarters (75%) of Welsh adults with a mental health condition and 66% of those with asthma say they are likely to ration their energy.
Affordability is already a key concern, with just 41% of Welsh adults saying they have been able to comfortably afford their heating bill in the last three months, without needing to ration their heating or make cuts elsewhere.
The situation is even worse for those with mental health conditions with only a quarter (24%) saying they could comfortably afford their heating, while just three in 10 (29%) with asthma said the same.
Six in 10 (61%) adults in Wales have also reported they are worried about energy costs this upcoming winter, with those who pay via prepayment meter the most likely to be worried (80%).
National Energy Action Head of Wales Ben Saltmarsh said: “Energy bills remain unacceptably high, posing a serious health risk this winter—especially for the most vulnerable households across Wales. Families continue to ration heating and cut back on essentials, leaving many deeply anxious about the winter ahead.
“Energy debt has also reached overwhelming levels. Ofgem’s proposals to ease the burden are welcome, but more support will be needed.
“The UK Government must structurally reduce fuel poverty through implementing its Warm Homes Plan in full, focused on those in greatest jeopardy from cold, damp and unhealthy homes.
“And ahead of the Senedd elections, every Welsh political party should commit to a bold programme of investment—making the homes of those most in need warmer, greener, and healthier places to live for current and future generations.”
On Fuel Poverty Awareness Day, National Energy Action is highlighting the plight of six million UK children thought to be living in fuel poverty, and how their health, comfort and life chances are put at risk, simply from living in a cold home.
To find out more about the campaign, visit National Energy Action’s site here.
National Energy Action (NEA), is the national fuel poverty charity, working across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, to improve the lives of people in fuel poverty.
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You don’t have to be a mathematician or a physicist to examine Net Zero and conclude that it’s a streaming pile of ideological horsechit. The sooner it’s scrapped entirely the better.
Except mathematicians and physicists are overwhelmingly in favour of reducing emissions… Even if the climate stuff is barmy (it isn’t, there’s just too much incontrovertible, verifiable evidence). Not burning fossil fuels leaves us with a much nicer environment where we can breathe freely (unlike in India and parts of China), it means any mining is no longer about coal extraction but for resources that don’t go up in smoke and can be recycled making mining much more sustainable and valuable. The only ‘horsechit’ here is that Gas is making electricity prices higher, much higher, and they spike every time someone… Read more »
Sod cutting energy use, I’m cutting down on food instead. I’m done rationing heating.