Energy providers are struggling to keep up with the demand from Scots eager to log meter readings ahead of a 54% rise in the energy price cap.
The websites of firms including E.ON Next, SSE, Octopus Energy, British Gas, EDF Energy and Scottish Power have gone down as millions try to send meter readings covering their energy usage up to the end of March.
Consumer journalist Martin Lewis has urged customers to send meter readings to their energy company to avoid being overcharged for any gas and electricity used before regulator Ofgem increases the maximum price-cap.
People on standard rate energy tariffs will pay £693 more on their energy bills from April 1, affecting 22m households in the UK.
The self-professed Money Saving Expert said on Twitter today: "I'm getting many many reports of people struggling to submit meter readings.
"The volume isn't unexpected. Firms really should've been better prepared. It's not good enough @ofgem please can you look into this."
Lewis has suggested that people take photographs of their energy meters to serve as proof of their energy usage before the price cap is increased, in case they need to submit readings after the hike has been imposed.
Even those using smart meters have been told to take pictures of their readouts - in case there's a dispute with their provider further down the line.
Amidst the outages, fuming customers have taken to social media to beg the energy firms to sort out the issues.
Karl West said: "Hey @SSE, funny that both your app and website have crashed today, as lots of customers are attempting to give you a meter reading before your prices rocket tomorrow. Cynical or just incompetent? Neither is a good look."
Ryan Christie tweeted: "@YourSSE when will your online service be back up and running please? Surely you guys knew people would be submitting meter readings today. This seems very very underhanded."
Paul Carnahan wrote: "Currently trying to submit meter readings to our supplier, Octopus Energy, and the website is sloooooow. Never seen it drag quite this badly. Stick with it, people - this is well worth doing today."
Jude Lightbody added: "Hi @OctopusEnergy your website won’t let me log my gas and electricity meter readings today…not very helpful given current situation.
"@MartinSLewis it’s almost like the energy companies deliberately don’t want you to be able to do this today."
Aberdeen North SNP MP Kirsty Blackman, sharing a screengrab of EDF's website, tweeted: "Hi @edfenergy lots of people will be trying to submit meter readings today before the price increase.
"How are you going to ensure customers can do this when the My Account section of your website is down?"
The Record has approached each firm for comment.
What the energy firms have told us
British Gas has promised that no-one will be left out of pocket as a result of the system outage, saying that customers can submit their readings with today's date attached at a later time.
Customers who are signed up to receive texts from the provider can also submit their energy use via text when prompted.
An Octopus Energy spokesperson told the Record that customers can submit meter readings up to a week after their tariffs are increased on Saturday April 2.
The firm said its website was remaining "fairly stable" despite increased demand.
Comparing the surge in readings to concert tickets going on sale, Octopus CEO Greg Jackson said: "Things are calming down a little - but this is the first time the energy industry has been like Ticketmaster.
"The team are doing all they can - we've stopped all activities in operations *except* meter readings."
A ScottishPower spokesperson said: “We are aware of an issue some of our customers are facing trying to log their meter readings on our website and are working to have the issue resolved as quickly as possible.
"For our affected customers, our Android and iOS apps are working and customers can still log their meter readings there.”
An EDF spokesperson said: "We are seeing an unprecedented demand from customers trying to submit a meter reading either online or via the EDF mobile app, which has led to us experiencing technical issues, we’re continuing to resolve this issue as quickly as we can and we apologise for any inconvenience this has caused.
"We urge customers not to worry and want to reassure them, that they don’t have to submit meter readings to us today and can share these with us in the coming days.
"In the meantime, we would encourage customers who usually submit meter readings to either take a photo, or make a note of their meter reading. Customers who have a smart meter, or are on a fixed tariff, don’t need to do anything at the moment."
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