Energy costs could spike this winter forcing governments to step in and subsidize bills again, the head of the International Energy Agency has said.

If the Chinese economy strengthens quickly and there is a harsh winter, gas prices could rise, putting pressure on consumers, Fatih Birol said.

He added that governments ought to push for energy-saving and lift renewables.

In any case, a UK government representative said energy bills are set to fall by an average of £430 this month.

Gas prices soared after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, driving up energy bills around the world.

A number of governments then stepped in with support for households, including in the UK, to try to soften the blow to consumers.

The IEA is an organization that works with governments and industry to provide data, analysis and recommend policies.
Mr. Birol told the BBC's Today program that many European governments made "strategic mistakes", including an over-reliance on Russia for energy, and that foreign policy had been "blindfolded" by short-term commercial decisions.

He said this winter "we cannot rule out" another spike in gas prices.

"In a scenario where the Chinese economy is very strong, buys a lot of energy from the markets, and we have a harsh winter, we may see strong upward pressure under natural gas prices, which in turn will put an extra burden on consumers," he said.

The Chinese economy had been bouncing back after Covid restrictions were lifted, but recently its economy has been slowing down.

Rating agency S&P Global this week cut its forecast for Chinese growth, saying "the risk is that its recovery loses more steam amid weak confidence among consumers and in the housing market".

Investment banks including Goldman Sachs have also been cutting forecasts for Chinese growth.

Nevertheless, Mr. Birol said governments including the UK should "continue to push measures to save energy, especially as we enter the winter".

They should also push renewable technologies so they "see the light of day as soon as possible" cut the time it takes for them to get permits, and look for "alternative energy options", he said.

He said he "wouldn't rule out blackouts" this winter as "part of the game".

"We do not know yet how strongly the Chinese economy will rebound," he said.

National Grid said last winter that short power cuts were a possibility - in the end, this was not necessary.

A UK government spokesperson said: "We spent billions to protect families when prices rose over winter covering nearly half a typical household's energy bill, with them set to fall by around £430 on average from this month."

Domestic gas and electricity bills in the UK fell at the weekend after a change to the energy price cap came into force, and a further, smaller fall is expected this winter.

However, with the annual energy bill of a typical household set to be about £2,000, costs are still much higher than the pre-pandemic norm.

Last week the head of Centrica, which owns British Gas, warned energy bills were likely to stay high for the foreseeable future.

Gas prices

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