The domino effect continues as Scottish Power becomes the fourth provider to announce an energy price rise.
Scottish Power has revealed plans to increase gas and electricity prices by up to 7% from the 3rd of December.
Some 2.3 million Scottish Power customers are likely to be affected but at least 700,000 will be safe as they stay on fixed or capped deals.
How it breaks down
But the average of 7% falls short of what the majority of customers will have to endure.
Monthly Direct Debit customers will face a rise closer to 8.7% on dual fuel bills bringing the annual cost to £1,271
Prepayment customers also have it bad as they will see an increase nearer 8.6% bringing their annual bill to £1,349.
Only quarterly cash or cheque customers will see lower increases of 1.4% but an average dual fuel bill of £1,368.
Rising prices
The energy giant is the fourth of the ‘big six’ to announce price hikes as the temperature drops.
Scottish and Southern Electric was the first to announce planned increases to bills of 9% back in August.
Just a few days ago, British Gas admitted it would need to put prices up by 6% from November and later that same day npower announced it would need to go further and hike prices by up to 8.8%.
It would appear that E.ON and EDF are likely to announce similar price hikes soon.
Why now?
The increases are broadly being blamed on Government energy efficiency programmes, transporting gas and electricity to homes and the rise in wholesale energy costs.
But energy companies are being criticised for being quick to put prices up in the winter but too slow to bring them back down in the summer.
What to do
Scottish Power will write to customers to inform them of how the rises might affect them.
The best course of action is to review your energy tariff and try to switch providers if your contract allows.
You can take a look at our comparison tables to get a broader view of the energy market which can detail exactly how much you can save by switching.
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