Call to pull plug on electricity price disparity

A HIGHLANDS and Islands politician has repeated calls for the Scottish and UK governments to introduce standard pricing for electricity.

Rhoda Grant, MSP, hit out over the practice of customers in the north of Scotland being charged more than the rest of the country for their electricity.

The electricity suppliers have argued the disparity in pricing is due to higher distribution costs involved in supplying electricity to the Highlands and islands, with customers of Scottish and Southern Electricity (SSE) charged two pence more per unit of electricity than customers in other parts of the country.

The Labour list MSP has received figures from the Scottish parliament’s Financial Scrutiny unit which show that the north of Scotland has the highest levels of fuel poverty in the SSE area.

Rhoda Grant said: ‘The levels of fuel poverty experienced in the Highlands and islands are eye-watering, yet neither the SNP government in Holyrood nor the Tory government in Westminster appear to care.

‘The north experiences some of the worst winter conditions, does not have the gas connections that other areas have and is doubly penalised by being charged more to get its electricity.

‘It is not good enough and Nicola Sturgeon and David Cameron need to take stock of this and sort it out.’

The Western Isles are the worst-affected area in Scotland, with 62 per cent fuel poverty levels, followed by the Orkney Islands at 58 per cent, Highland at 50 per cent and Argyll and Bute and Shetland, both with 43 per cent fuel poverty.