Thousands of small businesses across the country are facing the possibility of closure, as energy bills have risen to levels that many owners are finding difficult to pay.

Unlike for residential homes, company energy tariffs are not capped, leaving some business owners facing an increase in bills of more than 350%.

Many local vendors – whether that be cafes, restaurants, shops or pubs – have been forced to close either temporarily or permanently as a result of increased costs, while others face tough times ahead as they fight to remain afloat.

Although the Government has introduced some measures to support families and households with soaring energy bills, small businesses are not covered by the energy price cap – with organisations desperate for more financial help

Rising prices of meat and veggies at your local grocery stores and gas at the pump affects everyone, of course. But they impact some consumers more than others.

In fact, Americans who earn the lowest incomes are seeing prices rise at a significantly higher pace than the richest. 

This gap is explained by something known as inflation inequality, which explores the different spending habits of each group, writes Jacob Orchard, who is a doctoral candidate in Economics at the University of California San Diego. The poorest spend a lot more of their incomes on energy and food, which are the categories climbing the most right now.

The gas market is getting caught up in the frenzy that has hit the oil, fuel and coal markets as countries scramble to make sure they have enough reliable energy in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia is the world’s biggest exporter of crude and fuel and is also the biggest exporter of natural gas.

With fewer exports of Russian energy, countries in Europe and elsewhere are trying to secure supply. It is that factor that has boosted European benchmarks to several multiples of the US price, as gas futures at the Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF) were at $33 on Thursday.

The United States has helped by diverting cargoes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe, and many expect LNG demand to continue to surge as European nations shun Russia in the years to come. 

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