Gas: 208p a therm.
Highest since December 2022.
On Monday 14 September UK gas jumped 5% to above 208p a therm, the highest since the crisis winter of 2022. A Saudi pipeline closed after drone attacks. Talks on reopening the Strait of Hormuz were postponed. This is the third week of September, and the January cap window is wide open.
📊 The numbers
Day ahead gas above 208p on Monday, around 203p Tuesday, 201.6p by Wednesday with intraday spikes back over 203p. Winter contracts above 205p.
Day ahead baseload power around £176 a megawatt hour. That is the price at 6pm on a still evening, when gas sets it.
European storage 68% full. Norwegian maintenance cutting pipeline flows. Qatari LNG restricted. Hartlepool nuclear unit 2 off for 16 days from 14 September.
🧮 What 208p means for a bill
The October cap was set when gas was around 150p to 170p. January is being set now, above 200p.
Every 10p a therm sustained across the window adds roughly £30 to £40 to an annual dual fuel bill. The forecasters had January at 9% to 12% up before this week.
🏠 Three things, in order
Fix if you see 8% or more below the October cap. That gap is closing.
Turn the boiler flow temperature down. It is the biggest free gas saving in the house.
Treat 5pm to 8pm as the expensive hours they are. That is where gas sets the electricity price. Anything you move out of that window is a unit you did not buy at £176 a megawatt hour.
Two winters ago Britain promised itself it would never be this exposed to gas again. It is September 2026 and the price is 208p. The exposure is the same. The only thing that has changed is how many households can now do something about their own share of it.