ALMOST a million households in Scotland will now be in fuel poverty after the last of the major suppliers announced a second price rise in less than a year, it has been warned.

The 15.4% jump in gas and 4.5% rise in electricity tariffs announced by EDF means that all six of the big power suppliers have now raised tariffs for the coming winter and campaigners said households had seen their annual bills rise by £224 (21%) to £1293 in 12 months.

It is estimated that 569,600 more families in the UK will be forced to spend at least 10% of their net income on keeping warm because of the latest round of rises and uSwitch.com warned that almost seven million households are now going to be classed as fuel poor.

The figures suggest that close to one million families will be in fuel poverty in Scotland. Official figures show that 32.7% of households north of the Border spend a tenth of their income on energy costs, compared with 18.4% in England.

Tom Lyon, energy expert at uSwitch.com, said: “The sad fact is that you cannot have two consecutive rounds of energy price hikes in less than a year without seeing casualties.

“The visible victims are the 6.9 million, or over a quarter of all households, now living in fuel poverty, but they are more than matched by those for whom energy is rapidly becoming unaffordable, who are struggling to pay their bills and who are starting to self-ration their usage as a result.

“We are in danger of seeing energy becoming an unaffordable luxury for the few instead of a household basic for the many. As a result many households are being forced to make unpalatable and sometimes even dangerous choices. My concern is that the impact will really become apparent this winter.”

The Department of Energy and Climate Change said in July that around 750,000 Scottish households are already living below the fuel poverty line, sparking calls for action from the Government to force prices to be cut.

EDF said it had delayed introducing the higher charges, which will add about 33p a day to a dual-fuel bill, while the annual cost of a standard dual-fuel bill paid for by direct debit will rise to £1165 against £1051 previously.

The firm added that even with higher charges it will be the cheapest major supplier of dual fuel and claimed that by delaying its increase by three months customers could have saved £30 compared to ScottishPower, the first of the big six to raise tariffs this year.

ScottishPower put its gas tariffs up by 19% and its electricity charges by 10% from August 1, while British Gas increased gas bills by 18% and electricity by 16% from August 18.

This week, Scottish & Southern Energy raised electricity by 11% and gas by 18% while E.ON hiked electricity prices by 11.4% and gas by 18.1%. On October 1, Npower is raising gas prices by 15.7% and electricity by 7.2%.

The regulator Ofgem has launched an investigation into the big six and has previously said it has evidence they have pushed up prices in response to rising costs more quickly than reducing them when costs fell.

Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne last night said the Coalition Government was taking action to strengthen competition in the energy market. He said: “I am determined to make sure that we get the best deal for British energy consumers. That means making it easier for people to shop around and switch supplier to get the best deals, boosting competition to help keep prices down, and insisting energy companies insulate millions of homes by next year.

“I want to see greater protection for consumers and I want to put small companies on an equal footing with the bigger players in the energy sector. The Coalition Government is bringing about greater openness in energy markets and will strengthen competition -- that’s good news for both business and consumers.”