Scottish Power to raise energy prices by 7%

Scottish Power has revealed plans to increase gas and electricity prices by up to 7% from the 3rd of December.

This will add an average of £104 a year onto an average dual fuel bill, bringing the yearly cost to £1,271 for some 2.3 million Scottish Power customers.

But 700,000 customers will be unaffected as they are on fixed or capped deals.

Rising prices

The energy giant is the fourth of the ‘big six’ to announce price hikes as the temperature drops.

Scottish and Southern Electric was the first to announce planned increases to bills of 9% back in August.

Just a few days ago, British Gas admitted it would need to put prices up by 6% from November and later that same day npower announced it would need to go further and hike prices by up to 8.8%.

It would appear that E.ON and EDF are likely to announce similar price hikes soon.

Why now?

The increases are broadly being blamed on Government energy efficiency programmes, transporting gas and electricity to homes and the rise in wholesale energy costs.

But energy companies are being criticised for being quick to put prices up in the winter but too slow to bring them back down in the summer.

What to do

Scottish Power will write to customers to inform them of how the rises might affect them.

The best course of action is to review your energy tariff and try to switch providers if your contract allows.

You can take a look at our comparison tables to get a broader view of the energy market which can detail exactly how much you can save by switching.

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