Four in ten households say energy bills higher than last year Mike O'Connor, chief executive of Consumer Focus, said: "With energy price cuts and less heating used because of the mild weather, most people will have expected their winter energy bill to be lower this year. So higher winter bills may come as a nasty shock that many customers simply can't afford. We'd urge anyone struggling to pay their bill to contact their energy firm and Citizen's Advice as soon as possible. Gillian Guy, the chief executive of Citizens Advice, said that high energy bills are "stretching some household budgets to breaking point." Research by Consumer Focus found that almost half of consumers are already planning to make cut-backs in order to afford their energy bill. Of those cutting back almost half plan to reduce the amount of energy they use, around a third will cut back on seeing friends and family, holidays and goods such as clothes and music. Almost one in seven of all consumers plan to cut back on food, with one in five of the poorest consumers having to cut back on eating to afford heating. A third of people say they could not afford to pay if their monthly bill rises by £30 and over half could not afford to pay if their monthly bill was to rise by £50, Consumer Focus found.