Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Christmas electricity bombshell could hit Highlands

Post Thumbnail

Scores of council tenants in the Highlands could face a Christmas electricity bill bombshell, according to a north councillor.

His warning follows the revelation that a pensioner couple’s heating bills have doubled since the installation of new equipment.

It is understood that several hundred council homes have had replacement systems fitted as part of a Scottish Government-funded heating and insulation upgrade.

Donnie and Brenda McNeil of Murray Place in Rogart are among those counting the cost.

They pay by meter and stumped up £130 between December 3-15 after the installation of six assorted heaters that replaced the storage heaters they previously relied on.

Left no operating instructions for the new equipment, Mr McNeil, 65, said he waited a fortnight for a manual to fully comprehend the vast permutation of possible settings.

“We have used the same amount of electricity but paid twice as much,” he said. “It’s very frustrating especially at a time of year when you must count your pennies.”

Mrs McNeil, 76, who suffers from the debilitating condition fibromyalgia and is often housebound, said it was “hugely inconvient” to have intermittent heat.

East Sutherland and Edderton SNP councillor Graham Phillips, who intervened on their behalf, believes such problems are likely to be widespread, but not yet realised by those paying by direct debit.

He said: “There is the potential for neighbouring tenants to be heading, unawares, for a similar financial shock.

“There have been examples of systems being badly installed or not tested. One lady in Rosehall was left without heat or hot water. When she complained in mid-November she was told nobody could sort it before December.

“A family in Embo needed a heating system reinstalled after theirs’ failed.”

He acknowledged that the council had acted to address the issues, but has urged chief executive Steve Barron to consider suspending the present contract “for its continuing failure to deliver.”

Council troubleshooters visited the McNeils’ home on Monday to investigate their complaint.

A spokeswoman for the council said: “We cannot comment on individual tenants’ circumstances.

“However, we can confirm that councillor Phillips has been fully appraised of the actions that the housing section has taken.”