SCOTS will be able to save an average of #10-a-month on gas bills this winter by switching supplier, the Office of Gas Supply said yesterday.
At the same time, East of Scotland water chiefs warned of the need for further substantial rises in water and sewerage charges and Mr John Jameson, the chairman of the West of Scotland Water Authority, agreed with ESW chiefs that charges needed to rise considerably.
The estimate of gas savings came from Ofgas's Clare Spottiswoode, who came to Glasgow to confirm that the Scottish domestic gas market would be opened to competition on November 1.
The independent suppliers lining up to take customers from incumbent monopoly Scottish Gas include multi-utility ScottishPower, Calor Gas, and Texaco joint venture Calortex, Suffolk-based Eastern Natural Gas, and Newcastle-based Northern Electric.
All claim they will offer savings of between 20% and 25% on Scottish Gas's standard rate bills. Scottish Gas will be prevented from retaliating by cutting its own prices until Ms Spottiswoode, the director-general of gas supply, deems competition has been established.
Confirmation of the start date for deregulation in Scotland and north-east England came in spite of Calortex and ScottishPower's fears that the information systems required to support competition were not ready.
The advent of competition in Scotland is the official start of a UK-wide roll-out. Ms Spottiswoode said: ''People need to be reassured that the same gas will travel down the same pipes and through the same gas meter as now.''
The warning on additional water and sewerage charges came as East of Scotland water announced a pre-tax loss of almost #20m for 1996-97, its first year of operation.
Bigger water bills - Page 2
Green light - Page 16
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