WELL that came as a bit of a shock. Pun intended. My fixed-price energy contract with Scottish Power is about to come to an end. It’s been £78 a month for some time. To renew it for the next two years will see the cost rise to £238 a month. I make that about £8 a day or about £56 a week. More than three times the current price. I decided to check the price with another supplier. EDF for example (a few other suppliers are no doubt still available). Their estimate is much the same at £220 a month. They claim their electricity is 100% nuclear-generated.
A more detailed comparison of the price per kWh shows that Scottish Power’s 100% renewable electricity will cost me 44.23p per kWh and EDF’s nuclear electricity is cheaper at 41.49p per kWh.
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Scottish Power’s website boasts “We’re proud that all our domestic green tariffs are backed by 100% green electricity. They’re not greenish, they’re truly green – we generate the electricity right here in our UK wind farms.”
Maybe I should visit a wind farm and try asking the good Lord why he has increased the price of the wind he supplies to Scottish Power so much that it is now more expensive than electricity produced by multibillion-pound nuclear reactors. The standing charges tell a similar story. Scottish (wind) Power 57.86p per day. EDF (nuclear) 49.65p per day.
When I emailed Scottish Power on this subject they replied: “Energy suppliers in the UK, including Scottish Power, buy energy from the wholesale energy market. This market contains energy generated from both renewables (including Scottish Power Renewables generation) and fossil fuels to meet demand requirements. The cost of wholesale gas has hit an all-time high. As gas is one of the main sources to generate electricity, the cost of buying electricity from renewables has also increased significantly. The more we invest in new renewable capacity, the less we need to rely on more expensive and harmful energy sources, such as gas plants.”
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I will be contacting the Advertising Standards Authority to complain that Scottish Power’s website claims of “all our domestic green tariffs are backed by 100% green electricity” is at best misleading.
Three months ago I helped set up a new two-year contract for an elderly neighbour with Scottish Power. At that time the prices were roughly half what they now are. If you do not take up the offer of a new two-year fixed tariff you default to the standard tariff. Trying to find out what that actually means is difficult. An internet search failed to find out the current figures and I had to resort to a online chat to their call centre in India. It seems the standard tariff cost of Scottish Power’s electricity is currently 27.84p per kWh. So, at least in the short term, a bit cheaper than the two-year fixed deal but pretty much guaranteed to rise soon – and keep on rising.
Energy suppliers are laughing all the way to their corporate banks. For the consumer it’s just not funny any more.
Brian Lawson
Paisley
REGARDING the railway strike, I listen with concern to the people who say “Where will the money come from?” – the words of people who do not take enough notice of what happens in their country. There are trillions in offshore accounts which should be in the pockets of the workers. It seems to me that if anyone does not understand the economics of this, then they are not concerned enough about the politics of their country or indeed the world. Please get off your knees and demand what belongs to the workers of this country – you are playing the Eton boys’ game of hide the money.
I applaud the members of the RMT union. They hopefully will encourage other union members to fight for their rights.
Rosemary Smith
East Kilbride
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