Scottish Power to jack up energy bills for 900,000 households
24th August 2018 | Residential Energy
Scottish Power is raising the cost of its standard variable gas and electricity tariff by 3.7%, piling further pressure on squeezed households. The energy firm said the changes will come into force on October 8 and hammer 900,000 customers with an average £46 added to annual bills. It blamed “continued increases in wholesale energy costs.”
Neil Clitheroe, chief executive of ScottishPower’s retail arm, said, “We have seen significant increases in wholesale energy costs since April, and, like others in the industry, this means that we need to increase our prices. More than two-thirds of our customers are on fixed-price products or other tariffs not impacted by this price change. Those customers affected by the price change will be contacted and offered the opportunity to move to a fixed-price tariff alternative and avoid this increase.”
Scottish Power
It is the second time this year that the Big Six energy company, which is owned by the Spanish multinational Iberdrola, has increased prices. The firm increased its standard variable gas and electricity prices for around a third of its customer from June 1, with 950,000 households hit by and average increase of 5.5%.
The latest hike come just weeks after British Gas said it is raising its standard variable tariff by 3.8%. Energy regulator Ofgem has also recently increased its price cap on variable tariffs due to rising wholesale prices. Its safeguard tariff, which protects five million households from overcharging, will go up by £47 per year in October to £1,136.
The watchdog said it was increasing the cap due to rising oil prices, which have fed through to wholesale gas prices. Customers can hardly keep up with the tsunami of price hikes this year. This second Scottish Power price rise is yet another bitter pill to swallow for millions of households. Several energy companies have ramped up prices over the summer, affecting millions of households.
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