Citizens Advice has calculated that by December (2013), the UK's big six energy suppliers will have increased their energy prices by around 36 per cent in just over three years.
In its analysis of the research it recently carried out, the charity also forecast that prices will have risen by three times the rate of inflation - 10.2 per cent - and that average earnings will have increased by just 4.4 per cent in the same amount of time - from October 2010.
This is only likely to add to the debate surrounding rising energy prices. Five of the big six energy suppliers have implemented price increases this autumn.
Citizens Advice has voiced its concerns, saying that the continued pattern of price rises is impacting consumers significantly, affecting their ability to maintain a decent living standard.
Chief executive at Citizens Advice, Gillian Guy, commented: "Enormous escalations in energy prices are creating a desperate situation in many households.
"People find they do not have enough money to pay for essentials as increases in daily costs are outstripping low rises in earnings.
"As we head into winter and the latest price rises begin to kick in, more and more people are likely to reach crisis point as they struggle to heat their homes and feed their families," she added.
She also called on both suppliers and the government to look into ways of reducing the pressure rising bills are putting people under.