Fears that more households will be plunged into a "long, cold winter" were fuelled on Friday after two major energy companies hiked their prices.
Energy company npower announced today that prices will increase by an average 8.8% for gas and 9.1% for electricity from November 26 - hours after British Gas confirmed it would hike up gas and electricity tariffs by 6% from next month.
Consumer groups warnings some households will be "scared to turn on heating for fear of the cost" this winter.
The increase has left many households worrying how they will get through the winter
Both companies blamed rising costs largely outside their control, but with food and some mortgage costs also on an upward path there were fears about how the elderly and hard-up will cope with the latest rises.
Unions and consumer groups attacked British Gas and called on the Government to take urgent action to tackle rising fuel prices.
British Gas has confirmed it will hike up gas and electricity tariffs by 6% from next month
The news comes days after the national farmers union said food prices are likely to rise after poor harvests.
Reacting to the news earlier on Friday energy minister Greg Baker said: "There's no easy answers here. There's no way to dress this up as anything other than tough for people who are struggling with bills. This isn't welcome news.
"What they expect from a responsible government is taking decisions that will help them in the short term and also get a grip on the market to help it deliver better value in the future."
Further utility bill increases will play havoc with the Bank of England's inflation forecasts, which predicted a gradual slide in the consumer price index rate towards the end of the year and into 2013.
While inflation has fallen from 5.2% in September last year to 2.5% in August this year, many economists expect the rate to rise again as droughts in the US and poor summer weather in the UK are likely to mean higher food prices.