Scots households have seen their energy bills jump by an average £3,000 over the past four years, new figures show.
Research by fuel poverty groups found the average home has faced punishing extra fuel costs of around £750 more per year, every year since winter 2020-2021. It marks a 75 per cent increase in utility bills in the last four years – a period in which Scots have faced skyrocketing energy bills and a cost of living crisis sparked by Russia’s war with Ukraine.
And it comes as regulator Ofgem is expected to raise the energy price cap again for April to June, increasing bills further by around 5 per cent. That will see the average household paying £85 more a year for their energy from April, for a total of £1,823 annually.
The new analysis finds the typical home will have had to find an extra £3,033 by the end of June to pay for their energy since 2020-21. The cost of every unit of gas is likely to increase by around 10 per cent and every unit of electricity could go up by 7 per cent when Ofgem makes its announcement today.
Around 40 per cent of the time, the cost of electricity is also driven by the price of gas – due to what critics say is Britain’s “broken” energy market. Experts are advising households to look carefully at unit costs and standing charges when comparing energy deals.
Simon Francis, coordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said: “The burden of high energy bills has gone on long enough and as long as our energy bills remain tied to the cost of gas, households continue to be at the mercy of global markets and a fossil fuel industry which is making billions of pounds in profit every year. But alongside the transition away from reliance on gas, it’s crucial to provide support for vulnerable households struggling with energy costs now and to invest in improving energy efficiency of homes.”
He added: “If customers do shop around for a lower energy bill they must use their own energy usage on price comparison sites. Bills can vary greatly due to different rates for every unit of energy used and the daily standing charges so it pays to be aware of how these might affect the total bill.”
Caroline Simpson, Warm This Winter campaign manager, said: “Households in the UK will be in despair that energy prices are on the rise again as they are out of pocket by thousands and have forked out for excessive bills for the last four years. What will help – and help boost our energy security – is to rapidly increase our supply of homegrown, cheap and clean renewable energy which is abundantly available and the quickest form of energy production to get up and running.
“We also need to reform how the energy market works to decouple the price of renewable energy from expensive and volatile gas to bring down bills for everyone for good.”
The UK Government was approached for comment.