LABOUR have been accused of “betraying” voters as it was revealed energy bills are predicted to rise again from next April.
Households could be in for yet another rise in costs as market “turbulence” and price cap reforms feed through to bills.
The latest forecast from Cornwall Insight suggests the energy price cap could rise to £1762 per year for a typical dual fuel consumer – a 1% increase from the cap of £1738 that comes into effect on January 1.
This comes despite Labour’s repeated promises that they would bring down energy bills for people across the country.
Broken promises
In May 2024, Keir Starmer pledged to cut bills by £400 while the month after he said he would “cut bills, create jobs and provide energy security” in a speech in the run-up to the election.
Starmer also said that GB Energy would help “cut people’s bills”, although we reported how its chair Juergen Maier was unable to say when this would happen at a meeting in Westminster.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves (below) has also said she wants to help families save up to £300 per year off their energy bills by 2030.
Dave Doogan, the SNP MP for Angus and Perthshire Glens, said the Labour Government must now reduce bills by £494 to meet its own pledge, with a typical household paying £194 more come April.
“They must publish a clear timetable now – or admit if it’s destined to be yet another broken promise from the Labour Party,” he said.
“Let’s not forget, John Swinney stepped in to clear up Labour’s mess and introduce a unique Scottish Winter Fuel Payment after Labour MPs from Scotland skipped through the voting lobbies to inflict pain on Scottish pensioners – for that they should be utterly ashamed.
“Sub-zero temperatures have already descended on Scotland as gritters take to the streets while some Scottish households face the grim choice between eating or paying the highest energy bills in the land – Westminster is damaging Scotland and the Labour MPs from here keep voting for it.”
We told earlier this week how Doogan had been left fuming as Scottish Labour MPs failed to take part in a debate on the future of Scotland’s energy.
Scottish Labour’s proposals for a replacement to the Winter Fuel Payment were also rejected by Holyrood after the SNP announced a rival plan which was included in the draft Scottish Budget.
'Little more than warm words'
The Scottish Greens have also hit out at Labour, saying they have “betrayed” voters who put their trust in the party after it “waxed lyrical with promises to lower energy bills”.
“They offer little more than warm words for households already struggling to make ends meet, while they allow price hikes and axe Winter Fuel Payments for pensioners,” co-leader Patrick Harvie (below) told The National.
“In one of the wealthiest societies, nobody should choose between warmth or food. Labour must take action to protect our most vulnerable citizens and reform our energy markets, reducing reliance on global oil-and-gas/" target="_self">gas prices.
“The energy system as it stands is broken, and perhaps the single biggest change the UK could make right now is to break the artificial link between electricity and gas prices.
“The vast majority of Scotland’s electricity is produced by cheap, green, renewable sources, but households are not getting the benefit.
“Even households that don’t rely on fossil fuels at all are paying the price, and others would have a stronger incentive to shift away from fossil fuels if the UK ended this outdated price link.”
Labour have come under fire for cutting the universal Winter Fuel Payment from a range of organisations.
We told how Age Scotland called on them to reverse the cut as temperatures plunged across Scotland while Advice Direct Scotland has urged people to check if they are eligible for benefits to help them pay their bills.
Standing charges plans
During the phone-in on BBC Scotland’s Mornings with Stephen Jardine, a man named James from East Lothian explained how his income dropped after his wife passed away, making it more difficult for him to pay his bills.
He explained that he barely has his heating on and that he “eats cold meals at night” in order to ensure he can still pay the bills.
“I’ve put layers of clothing on and I don’t heat any meals whatsoever, I’m in and out the shower as quickly as I can – that’s how bad it is,” he told the show.
Specifically, he hit out at standing charges as a “rip-off”.
It comes as energy firms will be forced to offer customers tariffs with no standing charges, under a proposed shake-up of bills by regulator Ofgem.
Households which pay the fixed daily charges cover the costs of connecting to a supply irrespective of how much energy they use, but there have been widespread calls for these to be scrapped.
Ofgem is proposing suppliers offer a one price-capped tariff that includes the standing charge and another that loads these costs on energy usage charges instead, allowing customers to choose what suits them best.
The regulators solution is to tell energy firms to make a dual pricing offer – one with and one without a standing charge.
The tariff without a standing charge would have a higher price for each unit of energy.
Such tariffs already exist, but only from a handful of suppliers and these are not available to all customers.
When Ofgem asked for the public’s views on these charges, it received an overwhelming response of 30,000 submissions with the majority against the fees which typically total more than £300 a year.
Under Ofgem’s price cap, standing charges have risen by 43% since 2019.
