A power company provoked a storm of criticism last night after announcing a rise of up to 10% on gas and electric bills.
SSE fanned the flames of an already heated political battle over the cost of energy by revealing rises that will add £106 to its typical dual-fuel customer bill – pushing it up to £1,380 a year.
The move is expected to trigger a series of increases by the other members of the “big six” suppliers – Centrica, EDF, Scottish Power, E.ON and npower.
SSE group managing director Will Morris apologised to customers – who face an average rise of 8.2% from November 15 – insisting the company had been forced to raise tariffs amid rising costs.
But furious consumer groups and opposition politicians accused the firm of “ripping off” struggling families.
In May, SSE reported a 27.5% increase in year-on-year operating profits – up from £321.6million to £410.1million.
The latest hike is its fourth price rise since December 2010, with customers hit by a 9.6% increase last year.
The announcement was made just as the temperatures have begun to drop, and comes less than 24 hours after the cost of energy dominated prime minister’s questions at Westminster.
Labour, which announced plans to enforce a freeze on energy prices at the party’s autumn conference last month, seized on the row.
Shadow energy minister Tom Greatrex said: “Hard-pressed consumers across Scotland are now paying the price for David Cameron’s failure to stand up to the energy companies.
“When times are tough energy companies should be helping their customers, not hitting them with more price rises to boost their profits.”
Citizens Advice Scotland chief executive Margaret Lynch said: “This will be a real blow to people across the country, many of whom are already struggling with the rising cost of living.
“Fuel bills were already very high, so an increase like this is going to hit people hard – especially those on low incomes. It’s particularly disappointing that SSE have done this now, given that their profits went up earlier this year.”
The company said wholesale energy prices were up 4%, while paying to use newly upgraded networks had increased by 10% and government-imposed levies were up 13%.
Mr Morris said: “We know we will come in for a great deal of criticism for this decision and politicians will, no doubt, be lining up to condemn us.
“But over many years policymakers themselves have failed to highlight adequately the cost to consumers of the policies they have pursued in government.
“They can’t expect to have power stations replaced with new technologies, the network to be upgraded and nationwide energy-efficiency schemes all to be funded for free.”
UK Energy Secretary Ed Davey rejected claims that government policies were to blame.
He said: “Half of an average energy bill is made up of the wholesale cost of energy.
“This far outweighs the proportion of a bill that goes to help vulnerable households with their bills and to cut energy waste, and to encourage investment in the new low-carbon energy generation we need to keep the lights on.”
Scottish Housing Minister Margaret Burgess said: “It is extremely disappointing that SSE has chosen to increase fuel prices by 8.2%, saddling Scottish households, many of which are already struggling to pay their energy bills, with even higher payments.
“Ofgem, the UK Government and energy suppliers need to be held to account and must deliver a simpler, fairer, clearer and more competitive energy market to limit future price rises and increase transparency for consumers.”
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