Great Britain household electricity use rises 6.4%

Household electricity use in Great Britain rose year on year, according to Chameleon Technology, which based its findings on data from about 23,000 households.

Average household electricity consumption increased by 6.4% between March 2025 and March 2026, rising from 789 kWh to 839 kWh per home. Over the same period, gas consumption rose by 3%.

A longer-term review suggested a broader shift in domestic energy use. Over four years, electricity demand rose by about 18%, while gas use remained broadly flat.

The figures come as Ofgem's latest energy price cap lifted annual dual-fuel costs to £1,862. Despite the added pressure on households, the data suggests electricity demand has continued to grow rather than contract.

One reason may be the spread of electric vehicles and heat pumps in homes, which is increasing both the amount of electricity households use and the times of day when they consume it.

The findings point to a shift in household energy use away from gas and towards electricity, with implications for both consumer bills and the wider energy system, particularly as more homes adopt electric transport and heating.

Chameleon, which makes in-home displays and other monitoring products, said the pattern also underlined the need for households to track their usage more closely. Tools such as energy apps, CT clamps and real-time displays can help people understand which appliances are driving demand, it said.

Kyle Brown, Chief Commercial Officer at Chameleon Technology, said: "Electricity demand isn't slowing down, it's shifting. As homes electrify, we're seeing greater reliance on technologies like EV charging and electric heating, which are changing how and when electricity is used in the home."

Brown said the rise in demand also raised broader questions about the energy network.

He added: "If this demand continues to grow - which it almost certainly will - we cannot keep putting off the widescale infrastructure reforms needed for the grid. We can't focus on short-term affordability simply to push a complex problem down the line."

Brown said many households were still not making effective use of the data available to them.

"At the same time, most households still don't have clear visibility into how they're using energy," he said. "As demand grows, that becomes a bigger issue if people are expected to manage costs effectively. Without better insight, households are making decisions in the dark. That's why it's so important to encourage households to engage with their in-home displays or energy apps - the data is there, ready to be used."

More than 20 million people in Great Britain have access to a Chameleon in-home display, according to the company. Its devices are present in more than a third of homes across the country.

The latest figures add to evidence that energy demand in homes is changing in character rather than simply rising or falling with prices. As transport and heating shift further towards electricity, suppliers, network operators and consumers are likely to face a more complex pattern of domestic power use.