The poll, conducted in August, found that 46 per cent of households are more concerned about being able to afford their winter energy bills than they were in 2013.
Group general manager of Co-operative Energy Ramsay Dunning said: “What our latest research shows, is that despite a supposed upturn in the economy, consumers are still fearful of their energy bills in the winter and that this remains a worry for them. Our findings indicate that bill payers are assigning more of their household budget to pay for their energy than they did two years ago.”
He added, “Over half of consumers are doing this compared to just 11 per cent who are apportion less budget for energy than they did this time two years ago.”
The independent study said that 49.3 per cent of consumers recognise paying their energy bills as their single most important expenditure, ahead of Christmas shopping and weekly family shops, which were both at 16 per cent.
This contrasted with summer when consumers ranked the weekly shop as the top of its domestic expenditure list (31 per cent) followed by holidays (28 per cent).