Energy News

Scottish Power Deals the Final Blow

Monday 01 September, 2008

By hazel.cottrell@consumerchoices.co.uk

Scottish Power becomes the last major energy supplier to increase prices for domestic customers.

Following EDF (www.edfenergy.com), E.ON (www.eonenergy.com), British Gas (www.britishgas.co.uk) and Scottish and Southern Energy, and just a few hours after npower’s announcement, on Friday Scottish Power (www.scottishpower.co.uk) announced its price hikes which will come into effect today.

From today, the average Scottish Power customer will see an increase of 34% for gas, 9% for electricity and 25% for dual fuel. This will leave the average dual fuel customer paying an extra £259 per year.

The energy supplier claims that these price hikes are a direct result of increased wholesale costs which have made its previous pricing structure unsustainable, pointing out that since February 2008 the wholesale cost of gas has risen by 65% and that of coal by 45%.

Willie MacDiarmid, Scottish Power’s Director of Energy Retail, apologised for the rise. He said: “These are difficult times and we understand the financial impact this announcement will have on our customers. Although we’re one of the last companies to announce increases we’re sorry we couldn’t hold on any longer. The continuing volatility in the global market for gas is directly contributing to increasing UK’s domestic energy prices and Scottish Power is not immune to these rises.”

Scottish Power was keen to point out that around 1.2 million of their customers had already fixed their prices with a capped tariff, so will not be immediately affected by these increases. Following the price increases, the energy giant announced a new fixed priced product which will guarantee prices until December 2009.

Scottish Power also announced its plan to spend £40 million to protect vulnerable customers in the next three years, including £10 million which will be spent in the next seven months helping struggling households in the UK.

Chris Eagle, Commercial Manager at Energy Choices says: “So the last of the “Big Six” have followed the pack and increased their prices too. The effects are miserable, with five million household estimated to be in fuel poverty this year. However, now that all the major suppliers have shown their hand, the playing field is level which means there is no better time to compare energy prices and ensure you are getting the best deal.”

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