The regulator’s decision to hike home energy bills by more than half is a “hammer blow” for Scottish households and will see many people “facing the stark choice between heating or eating”, leading advice charities have said.
Ofgem announced on Thursday that household energy bills will soar by £693 per year from the beginning of April, by bringing the energy price cap up to a record £1,971 for a typical household as gas prices soared to unprecedented highs.
And for those on prepayment meters, the cap will go up by £708 to £2,017, the regulator added.
Derek Mitchell, Citizens Advice Scotland’s chief executive, said the “eye-watering increase is a hammer blow for consumers”.
“One in three of us already find bills unaffordable and, shamefully, almost half a million people in Scotland have had to cut back on food to deal with unaffordable bills. This simply isn’t a sustainable position for people,” he said.
And Andrew Bartlett, chief executive of Advice Direct Scotland, said the hike was a “devastating blow for many households”.
“It will cause deep anxiety and financial worries, leaving many people facing the stark choice of heating or eating,” he said.
Ofgem said the record rise in global gas prices was behind the energy cap rise of 54%, and the hike will affect default tariff customers who have not switched to a fixed deal and those who have not switched since their old supplier went bust.
The rises announced will mean direct debit customers pay 28p per kWh for electricity and 7p per kWh for gas.
The rise will mean that “April will be a nightmare scenario”, according to Mr Mitchell, “as rising bills and prices in the shops collide with flat or falling incomes, creating a perfect storm that could sweep millions of people across the UK into poverty, debt and destitution.”
Mr Mitchell demanded the UK Government step in and limit the impact of the bills, as well as a long term-plan to keep bills down.
“No one should be forced into the heart-breaking choice between keeping their homes warm or feeding their families. We need immediate direct interventions,” he said.
Roz Foyer, general secretary of the Scottish Trade Union Congress, said Scotland already has some of the highest levels of fuel poverty in Europe and would be disproportionately impacted by soaring bills.
“It is nothing short of shameful that people are being forced to choose between food and heat,” she said.
“The threat to households is made all the worse by cuts to universal credit and below inflation pay rises,” she said.
