19% rise for Scottish Power customers
June 26, 2011 at 2:42 pm
There was yet more misery for gas customers recently when Scottish Power announced that it would be increasing its gas bills by a massive 19% in a few months. At the same time, the energy provider said that its electricity bills would also rise by 10%.
The announcement has been met with widespread criticism. Now customers are being encouraged to go online to find a better deal before the rises come into force in August 2011.
So why the increases?
Scottish Power claims that it is responding to a rise in wholesale costs over recent months as well as to the volatile global markets.
However, this is not likely to go down well with the 2.4 million households affected by the increase. The average dual-fuel customer will now have to pay an extra £175 a year following the increase. Consumer Focus described the decision as a “body blow” for customers.
The move comes less than a year since Scottish Power last increased its bills. Back in November 2010 it announced that it was increasing its gas bills by 2% and electricity by 8.9%. However, this latest increase represents a much larger rise and is set to hit customers hard.
Scottish Power said that customers will be notified in June so that they are given 30 days notice before it comes into effect. It also claimed that 700,000 customers will not be affected due to being on fixed or capped tariffs.
However, there are now fears that it could lead to more price rises by the other energy providers. History shows that the large energy providers tend to increase their prices together, meaning other energy customers could also be affected.
