ALEX Salmond has been urged to tell the public what independence would mean for household fuel bills and the future of the energy industry in Scotland.

Shadow Energy Minister Tom Greatrex will say in a speech in Scotland today that households and investors need to know what the impact of planned separation will be on the policy.

The Labour MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West is expected to say: "Energy is one of the key drivers of the Scottish economy but this is under threat from Alex Salmond's plan to break away from the UK.

"The people of Scotland and potential energy investors need answers to a number of important questions about the impact of separation on the Scottish energy industry.

"The time for bluff, bluster and assertion is over. Alex Salmond must come clean on what the future holds for energy in Scotland with hard facts backed up by evidence."

Mr Greatrex added that Scotland and the rest of the UK mutually benefit from the sharing of energy resources, risks and rewards and there is no sense in changing it.

In a letter to the First Minister, Mr Greatex asks who, if Scots vote for independence, would be responsible for meeting the estimated £35 billion cost of oil and gas decommissioning in the North Sea and for meeting the cost of decommissioning Scotland's nuclear power stations.

"Nuclear power currently generates over one-third of Scotland's electricity, significantly more than in the rest of the UK. Given your administration's opposition to new nuclear power, what will fill this gap and provide the baseload power Scotland needs to keep the lights on?" he adds.