Fuel crisis: Energy price rise to plunge 150,000 Scots into poverty

However, Scotland has a higher proportion of people living in fuel poverty, due to the number of so-called “hard to heat” homes and those solely reliant on electricity as their energy source. 

This is on top of the higher prices Scots face for energy transmission charges, which are outdated and should be revised, many Scottish MPs have argued. 

The growing concerns about a cost of living crisis have been compounded by some petrol stations closing due to a concern about fuel shortages.

Energy Action Scotland CEO Frazer Scott told The Herald that support systems had to be put in place to help those struggling, or three-quarters of a million Scots could be facing the winter months without adequate means to heat their homes and keep the lights on. 

He said: “A lot of properties in some parts of Scotland are all electric. Gas is significantly cheaper than electricity to achieve the same levels of comfort.

"A much higher proportion of houses in Scotland are all electrical or off-gas than down south, so that’s why Scots have a higher average fuel bill. You could say it is also partly down to our climate.”

READ MORE: BP and Tesco close some petrol stations amid fuel shortage warnings

Mr Scott said that estimates from 2019 showed around 613,000 households live in fuel poverty in Scotland – around 25% – but this is likely to have risen. 

Combined with estimates that 150,000 more Scots will face fuel poverty as a result of the price cap increase from next month, he warned the winter will be “very tough” for a lot of families. 

He said: “No matter how you look at this, it’s still terrible. Analysts are suggesting we are going to see another 10-12% rise in the spring [energy price cap] rise. It is a really terrifying prospect.” 

complacent over 18-month-old warnings about risks to the UK’s energy supply, after 1.5 million people were left without a provider.

A host of energy companies has gone to the wall in recent weeks after the sector was hit by rocketing global wholesale gas prices.

With 800,000 consumers losing their suppliers on Wednesday alone, two energy companies have since looked to make it more difficult for new customers to sign up for their services as they attempt to survive the current turbulence.

Bulb scrapped its popular refer-a-friend scheme as it tries to raise new cash, while rival Ovo Energy changed its website by removing an invitation to “get an energy quote in under two minutes”.

Labour used an urgent question to drag Mr Kwarteng before MPs to face questions over the crisis.

READ MORE: UK Government urged not to cut benefit amid soaring gas prices

Shadow business secretary Ed Miliband quoted a letter from energy regulator Ofgem warning of a “systemic risk to the energy supply as a whole” which had been sent 18 months ago.

Speaking in the Commons, Mr Miliband accused ministers of being “complacent” about the shock that rising gas prices could wreak upon the market, as well as the cost of living.

But Mr Kwarteng said the administration had “not been complacent” as suppliers collapsed.He said Ofgem’s concerns had been “interrogated” during the coronavirus pandemic, with the supplier of last resort programme, where consumers are automatically transferred to a new provider if their supplier exits the market was “found to work”.

Yesterday, the Government urged drivers to continue to “buy fuel as normal” after BP announced a “handful” of its garages would be closing. 

Esso owner ExxonMobil also said a “small number” of its Tesco petrol stations had been impacted by problems, thought to be related to a shortage of HGV drivers rather than of the fuel itself. 

BP’s head of UK retail Hanna Hofer said it was important the Government understood the “urgency of the situation”, which she described as “bad, very bad”.

She added that BP had “two-thirds of normal forecourt stock levels required for smooth operations” and the level is “declining rapidly”.