Working From Home Will Drive Up Electricity Bills for Consumers

(Bloomberg) -- Household electricity bills are set to soar, thanks to the millions of people now working at home to avoid catching the coronavirus.

Running laptops and other home appliances will cost consumers an extra 52 million pounds ($60 million) each week in the U.K., according to a study from Uswitch, a website that helps consumers compare the energy prices that utilities charge.

For each home-bound household, the pain to the pocketbook may be about 195 pounds per year extra.

The rise in price for households comes even as overall demand is falling rapidly in Europe, with wide swaths of the economy shut down to keep workers from gathering in one place.

People stuck at home will plug in computers, lights and appliances when they’d normally be at the office, increasing their consumption.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.