Households face cash crisis as energy prices rise again

A LOCHGILPHEAD-based charity has voiced outrage at the decision by Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) to increase energy bills when many people are struggling to make ends meet.

Gillian McInnes, manager of Argyll and Bute Citizens’ Advice Bureau, said she was ‘horrified’ to hear the news of SSE’s price increases and explained the move will see thousands of families across Argyll and Bute struggle.

She said: ‘Already our biggest area of advice is debt and yesterday alone we worked with the Moving on Mid Argyll project to deliver emergency food bags to three households. People are already struggling to heat and eat, and this will compound the situation.’

Scottish and Southern Energy announced on Monday it plans to increase standard UK domestic electricity prices by an average of 6.9 per cent.

The hike, which will come into effect on April 28, means SSE customers will pay an extra £73 a year for dual fuel deals.

Pressure

The main concern for the Citizens’ Advice Bureau manager is that those most affected will be workingage families who are already feeling the pressure of low wages, rising food bills, increased council tax and the removal of working and family tax credits.

SSE is the latest of the ‘big six’ energy suppliers to raise prices.

A spokesperson for SSE said: ‘We deeply regret having to raise electricity prices. This is the first increase since 2013 and we’ve worked hard to keep them down for as long as possible by cutting our own costs.’

SSE explained that without an increase the company would have been supplying electricity to domestic customers at a loss.

In an attempt to soften the blow, SSE is launching a £5 million fund to provide assistance to vulnerable customers who are struggling with their bills.

Gillian McInnes, however, said that this UK-wide assistance scheme barely scrapes the surface and overlooks households reliant on low or variable incomes which, she says, are stretched to breaking point.