Politicians call for views on energy price rises
Ryan Taylor
Householders who have experienced large hikes in their energy prices are being asked to contact their representatives at Westminster and Holyrood.
Alistair Carmichael MP and Shetland MSP Beatrice Wishart are both asking constituents to get in touch with examples of high prices and difficulties with suppliers.
The Parliamentarians are gathering evidence of the situation in Orkney and Shetland to demand action from energy suppliers and government on unfair charges and poor customer service.
The move follows representations from consumers frustrated with rising costs over the last few years.
Research from comparethemarket found 72 per cent of households across the UK have seen an increase in their energy usage since lockdown began.
Mr Carmichael said: “Too many households in the Northern Isles remain in fuel poverty.
“The added impact of the pandemic and the economic uncertainty make that chronic challenge all the more acute. It is all the more important then that customers are charged fairly for their energy use and that billing issues are sorted out quickly.
“In these difficult times we all need to play our part in supporting one another. Correspondence we have received from constituents, however, shows that some energy suppliers are not necessarily doing what they should to support their customers.
“We would encourage anyone who has experienced energy issues to contact us so that we can gather evidence of the scale of the problem in the Northern Isles.”
Ms Wishart added: “People are understandably complaining about steady and steep rises in costs over the last few years.
“When coupled with stretched budgets as a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic, this will be worrying time for many people.
“Islanders shouldn’t be penalised with unfair costs. We know that some people feel that the price they’re being charged per unit has gone through the roof in recent months with no real justification from energy companies. We also know it’s difficult for some people to switch providers because of meters used in the isles.”
George Herraghty
Extortionate Energy Prices? We all know why:
Constraint payments to wind farms, that is payments to STOP generation, mostly in Scotland, reached record levels in 2018, with the total reaching £124,649,106, as compared to the total in 2017, of £108,247,860.
Of this, £115,716,335 was paid to Scottish wind farms, and nearly all of that, £115,313,091 went to onshore wind farms. These costs are, of course, passed through to consumers in their bills.
Behind this record lies the fact that many wind farms received constraint payments for the first time in 2017 and 2018, including some such as Stronelairg that began to be constrained off (28 December 2018) within weeks of being connected to the system.