Glasgow has the cheapest energy bills in Scotland according to new research using government data.
Residents pay around £1113 in energy bills a year – well below the Scottish average of £1361. Meanwhile, households in Argyll and Bute pay £1842 in energy bills; a difference of more than £700.
The research used the latest data from the Scottish Government’s Energy Statistics Hub to analyse electricity and gas bills in every local authority in Scotland – and Glasgow ranked bottom of the list.
The study comes ahead of the biggest jump in domestic energy bills in living memory as millions across the country face a cost-of-living crisis.
The energy price cap is set to increase by £693 from today after regulator Ofgem hiked the price cap on bills to £1,791, with a further increase expected in the autumn.
Na Eilean Siar (Western Isles) has the second highest energy bills in Scotland, with residents paying an average of £1754 in energy bills every year – nearly £400 more than the Scottish average bill of £1362, and £641 more than Glasgow, the Scottish area with the lowest energy bills.
Highland has the third most expensive energy bills in Scotland. In Highland, residents pay an average of £1711 a year in energy bills - £349 more than the average energy bill in Scotland, and £600 less than Glasgow.
Aberdeenshire, Perth & Kinross and East Renfrewshire also have some of the highest energy bills in the country, with households paying £1580, £1580 and £1557 towards their energy bills respectively.
At the other end of the scale, Glasgow has the cheapest energy bills in Scotland, with residents paying £249 less than the average energy bill in Scotland. West Dunbartonshire and Renfrewshire also have significantly lower energy bills than the rest of the country, with the areas paying £1127 and £1180 towards their bills respectively.
The Scottish and UK governments have announced a package of measures aimed to ease the energy crisis, including a £200 "rebate" in October which is to be paid back by consumers over the next five years.
But a YouGov poll commissioned by charity Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) found more than eight in 10 people in Scotland are worried about the impact of rising bills.
Previous research for the charity also revealed one in three people already found bills to be unaffordable, with almost half a million cutting back on food due to living costs.
A spokesperson for Compare Boiler Quotes, who conducted the research said: “Energy bills are already sky-high and with bills soaring by a predicted £600 in the next few days, it is concerning to see the stark regional differences in energy bills across Scotland. In some areas of Scotland residents are paying over £700 a year on more on energy than the cheapest places, and it seems to be the more rural and remote areas such as Eilean Siar and Argyll and Bute which are suffering most.
"It is those homes which are least energy efficient which will suffer the most from rising bills, as escaping heat will mean that your heating system works harder to compensate for the lack of warmth, costing you more.
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"The government is advocating heat pumps as a solution to soaring energy bills, but these will not be effective without proper floor insulation – which 65 percent of homes in the UK currently lack. While households can use some hacks to insulate their homes better, for example, buying inexpensive pipe insulation from a DIY store, unless something serious is done about the energy crisis, we will see many more households driven into poverty."
