RISING energy bills later this year look set to hit Ceredigion hardest with the average home facing a rise of more than £800 on their annual bill.

Analysis conducted by the Welsh Liberal Democrats shows that Ceredigion will be the second hardest hit in the UK by rising energy costs, with on average, households having to find an extra £69 a month to cover the rise – second only to the Isle of Scilly in Cornwall.

The forecasted rise will lead to an extra £863 being added to the annual fuel bill for a family in Ceredigion, significantly above the national average which is around £598 per year.

Last year the average homeowner in Ceredigion paid out £1,092 for their annual energy bill, with the average household in Cardiff paying just £677.

Under the new price cap coming into force in April, that figure for Ceredigion is set to rise to £1,955. It could further rise again in the coming autumn when it is scheduled for another review.

The Welsh Lib Dems have called for a one-off ‘Robin Hood’ tax on the super-profits of oil and gas giants that would fund the doubling and expansion of the Warm Home Discount to those in receipt of Universal Credit or Pension Credit to those in receipt of Universal Credit or Pension Credit giving 6,582 households in Ceredigion £300 each off their heating bills this year.

The party have also called for the doubling of the Winter Fuel Allowance, helping 26,380 pensioners in the area keep their homes warm.

Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader and Mid and West Wales Senedd Member Jane Dodds said: “These figures reveal that people in Ceredigion are facing eye-watering increases to their energy bills when many local residents are already deeply worried about their next heating bill landing on their doormats.

“It is hardly surprising that it is people in rural areas are the worst affected. It is yet more evidence that the Conservatives and Welsh Labour are taking our rural communities for granted.

“Families are facing an energy bill nightmare, meanwhile the Conservative Government in Westminster is asleep at the wheel failing to do anything to protect vulnerable people from this cost-of-living crisis.

“The Welsh Liberal Democrats have set out a clear plan to give thousands of people in our area £300 each off their heating bills this year. It’s time Boris Johnson and the Conservative’s stopped taking our local communities for granted and offered families the support they need to cope with energy price hikes.

“Long-term we need to see the Labour-Plaid Cymru administration in the Senedd significantly ramp up its insulation programme, with support to improve household insulation targeted at those who need it most.

“The Welsh Government has missed all of its fuel poverty reduction targets since 2010, we simply cannot leave this issue unaddressed any longer.”

Elsewhere, figures show that households in Gwynedd face a rise in their annual fuel bills of £803 with the average household having to fork out £1,819 come April.

Households in Carmarthenshire face an annual rise of £757 in their fuel bills with the annual price set to be around £1,715 come April, with people in Powys set to see a rise of £753 with the average annual bill coming in at £1,706.