Will Burnham’s promise to bring down energy bills work? The short answer is that household dual-fuel energy bills are forecast to rise next quarter regardless of the tax cut on electricity. Andy Burnham’s new government has promised to cut 5% value-added tax (VAT) on electricity from October. The firm has updated its price cap forecasts, which suggests bills will rise in October under the next price cap, despite the VAT cut. On just his second day in office, new prime minister hailed the tax cut on electricity bills as “breathing space”, insisting that his government was “taking immediate action to cut taxes on energy bills”, to “bring back hope”.