ScottishPower, a supplier of electricity and gas, has announced new energy prices for domestic customers. The announcement is a direct result of continued increases to input costs of coal and wholesale gas, the company said.
From September 1, 2008, the average customer will see a dual fuel increase of 25%. Electricity prices will increase by an average of 9% across the UK and gas prices will rise by 34%, said ScottishPower.
Following the increase, ScottishPower will still be cheaper for combined gas and electricity than British Gas/Scottish Gas, according to ScottishPower.
ScottishPower also announced its plan to spend GBP40 million on measures to protect vulnerable customers in the next three years. The plan includes an initial package of GBP10 million which will be spent in the next seven months helping households across the UK.
Willie MacDiarmid, director of energy retail at ScottishPower, said: These are difficult times and we understand the financial impact this announcement will have on our customers. Although we’re one of the last companies to announce increases we’re sorry we couldn’t hold on any longer. However, we have worked very hard to protect people for as long as possible from these considerable increases in the wholesale market.