The Independent says Burnham will "slash" up to £200 off bills; its own subheading says the cap rises £60

The rise is decided. Ofgem's cap goes up four per cent in October, from £1,663 to £1,723 — "around £5 more per month, or £60 per year", The Independent reports. It quotes the energy secretary defending the rise with "I can't control wars", and says analysts already expect a bigger increase in the new year.

The cut is not. The same report says the prime minister is "reportedly exploring options", that the scheme comes from a Telegraph report, and that "no final decision has reportedly been made on how much the EPPP support would be worth, or whether to proceed with it". The £200 in its headline appears nowhere in its body.

Not settled. Whether the payment happens, what it would be worth, and who would get it — The Independent says it is unclear whether an estimated 2.5 million more households in fuel poverty are covered. We hold one account of the cap figures and one of the £45 VAT saving, both from the same report. No bill-payer is quoted in either.

What this is about. Britain's household energy bills are going up again in October, and the new prime minister, Andy Burnham, is reported to be considering a payment to offset the rise. It is not yet known whether that payment will happen.

How it got here.

• 1986–1990. The Conservative government privatised gas and electricity supply. Since then, private companies have sold energy to households.
• 2019. After years of complaints that loyal customers were overcharged, Parliament passed a law in 2018 that let the regulator cap prices. The cap began in January 2019. Ofgem is the regulator for Great Britain. Northern Ireland has its own regulator, and the cap does not apply there.
• 2021–2022. Wholesale gas prices rose sharply, and rose further after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The government paid a large share of household bills directly.
• Since 2023. Ofgem has reset the cap every three months. The cap limits unit prices and standing charges, not the total bill. The headline figure is what a typical household would pay.
• 2024. Labour won the general election and promised lower bills, partly through a new publicly owned company, Great British Energy.

The actors.

• Andy Burnham was elected Labour mayor of Greater Manchester in 2017. As mayor, he brought the region's buses back under public control. He has long argued for public ownership of utilities. The reports we hold do not say how he became prime minister.
• Ofgem sets the cap using wholesale costs. Ministers do not set it.
• The Critic is a British magazine that argues against his case. Its point is about the cost of capital: whether the state can borrow more cheaply than private owners. Economists disagree on that.

What is at stake. Whether a Labour government pays households directly while bills keep rising, and whether it moves towards owning parts of the energy system.

Where it stands. The October rise has been decided. The payment has not. According to The Independent, its value, who would get it, and whether it will go ahead are all still undecided.