The price hike, which will come into effect on January 1, 2007, will mean domestic electricity bills will increase by an average of 9.4% and gas bills by 12.2%.
The rises will no doubt come as another blow to UK consumers, and Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) has been criticized for announcing the increases from various quarters. For example, Amicus’ national officer for the energy industry, Dougie Rooney, said that the company should be ashamed of itself.
This is a company that has made excessive profits year on year and, because of that, it should be prepared to absorb the rise in wholesale energy costs and avoid heaping hardship on thousands of people, Mr Rooney stated. They are also jeopardizing high energy using industries, including chemical, glass and metals companies who are already suffering due to massive hikes in energy costs, he continued.
SSE has defended itself by saying that it is still one of the cheapest UK energy suppliers, and has made fewer increases than its major rivals in the past few years.
