Scottish power price increase - wow

[ihateyes]

from 1st august 10%elec, 19%gas

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-13685915

 

stickin the hand in a bit i think!!

[MARTIN3030]

Hard-pressed consumers have been dealt a fresh blow after Scottish Power unleashed what is expected to be a new wave of energy bill rises.

The company said gas tariffs will rise by an average of 19% from August 1, with electricity going up by 10% on the same date. The increases, which will impact on 2.4 million households, are expected to add £173 to the average annual dual fuel bill.

Other suppliers are certain to follow suit in the wake of a sustained rise in wholesale supply costs, which Scottish Power said had jumped 30% since it last increased gas and electricity bills in November.

Consumer Focus described the latest rise as a body blow for UK households and said it will further undermine public trust in energy companies.

Audrey Gallacher, the watchdog's head of energy, said: "Companies have been softening customers up for price rises for months but customers will be shocked at the scale of this rise."

Energy regulator Ofgem recently called for the industry to be overhauled after it found that the "big six" companies had put up prices more quickly than they reduced them when costs fell. It accused them of "failing to play it straight" with consumers and threatened to refer them to the Competition Commission if they failed to simplify prices.

Ofgem has also ordered energy companies to give its customers a minimum of 30 days' notice before putting bills up. A separate inquiry has been launched into Scottish Power's pricing plans.

The latest price rises will cause more misery for cash-strapped households, which are struggling as wages fail to keep pace with rising inflation. All of the big six companies hiked prices over the winter and the Bank of England has already said it expects fuel bills to rise by as much as 15% this year. British Gas owner Centrica recently signalled that price rises are on the way.

Scottish Power's tariff hikes mean that a dual fuel customer paying by direct debit will see prices rise by £173 to £1,206. Customers paying by cash on a quarterly basis will see their annual bill rise by £180 to £1,391.

Raymond Jack, Scottish Power's UK retail director, said: "We understand times are difficult for many people, and we have done what we can to absorb these additional costs for as long as possible to minimise the impact on our customers."

[rebel11]

I would laugh, but it's not funny.

 

'the Bank of England has already said it expects fuel bills to rise by as much as 15% this year', this is like a 'red rag to a bull', increase your prices chaps.

[2Grumpy]

Having got my new DD estimate, I went back to look at their price increase letter

 

My Gas price (after the first 670KW per quarter) has gone up 60%

 

The first 670KW includes the equivalent of the standing charge, but that went up by 49%

 

How on earth did they manage to get this past the regulators as a much smaller increase, presumably with the word average in there somewhere

 

I wonder if they took the number of people on those tariffs into account when calculating the average ...

[WiserLifestyle]

Ok, I am really gob-smacked here...Can ANYONE please explain why this is not being stopped? My understanding was that the fuel companies were making a profit, so why the huge increase?

People it is one thing to cry rip-off Britain, but why do we tolerate it? And what is Ofgem? Can anyone say quango?

Edited September 18, 2011 by WiserLifestyle

[martin2006]

Wont be long before people start bypassing their meters or buying a "spare" meter to whip in inbetween reading visits!!

I remember the guy next door to where i used to live many many moons ago, took it upon himself to run his leccky supply from the street lamp outside his house:!:

[rebel11]

Whats needed is real 'competition', the energy companies like holding each others hands, a bit like the banks, a bit like the insurance companies, etc there is minimum competition or no competition.

[MARTIN3030]

I am sure we will see some interesting results come from the OFGEM investigation.

Politicians are also now taking an interest since they see this as a vote winner.

Real competition would mean the real suppliers like Gazprom or Naftogas being allowed to enter the UK markets directly.

The problem is that they are unlikely to offer any big cuts since demand is there.

Recently China tried to hold Russia to a 10 year gas deal on fixed price -but Gazprom was having none of it and refused.

Supply always has to reflect demand.....and as most know-anything in demand will always give the supplier the ace cards.

Maggie has a lot to answer for because she squandered our North Sea gas revenues in the 80s instead of investing.

There is no shortage of untapped gas-but it needs investment to get it.

[ihateyes]

Gazprom already has a license to sell gas ad elec in the UK. sure they got it a couple of years ago, cos rumours did circulate the would make a bid for BG then the rumours was on Scottsh and Southern but nothin materailised.

[MARTIN3030]

Yes they did make a bid for BG but BG was not interested.

I think they also proposed a joint venture,but again nothing materialised.

Given BPs experience with TNK its not suprising that people are wary.

 

I expect we might see Gazprom ending up with control of one of our big 6 in the future though.They have the clout and the resources,and usually always get what they want in the end (aside from Ukraines Naftogaz of course)

 

On a different note,I saw EDF are advertising in the media that they are the cheapest dual fuel provider of the big 6-but as of October ...........

Seems the timing and levels of their increases has been well planned.