The membership body Care England has called for immediate government action after figures showed the sector was facing a £2bn uplift in energy prices over the past year.
The charity, which represents independent providers of adult social care, said the government must act to prevent a “widespread catastrophe” within the sector.
It said figures released with the not-for-profit energy consultancy Box Power CIC showed social care providers were facing an almost 700 per cent increase in energy costs over the past year.
It said that while gas and electricity was costing an average of £660 per bed annually in the social care sector this time last year, that figure had risen to £5,166.
Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, said: “Today’s figures illustrate the true scale of the energy crisis facing adult social care.
“Representing an additional cost of over £2bn per annum sector-wide, the energy crisis comes at a time when adult social care is already facing the most challenging circumstances in its history.”
He said existing packages of government support “ignore the social care sector entirely” and that care providers, despite paying the same VAT and Green Levy rates on energy bills as domestic customers, were not subject to the domestic price cap and would not benefit from the £400 energy rebate.
“While these measures are incredibly important to protect public health and support struggling households across the country, parity must be introduced in the treatment of the most vulnerable in our communities,” said Green.
“Without immediate and targeted support from government, this energy crisis poses a very severe risk to the sustainability of care services across the country.”
Care England has written to MPs calling for immediate and targeted support from central government for the sector, including a per-bed energy price cap equivalent to the proposed domestic energy price cap, or for providers to be reimbursed for increased energy costs incurred by other means; the extension of the £400 energy rebate to vulnerable people in care and supported housing; and the removal of VAT and the Green Levy on energy bills.