Electricity bills will increase by THOUSAND pounds and £ 200 in government aid “will not be enough to help families”, says the energy chief
- Keith Anderson says £ 200 won’t be “close enough” to offset bills
- ScottishPower’s chief executive predicts spending will jump to £ 2,900 this year
- That would be an increase of almost £ 1,000 after the bills reached £ 1,971 early last month
From Calum Moorhead City correspondent for the Daily Mail
Posted: 22:40, 8 May 2022 | Updated: 23:20, 8 May 2022
The head of a large energy company said paying the government £ 200 to offset growing bills “would not be enough”.
Keith Anderson, CEO of ScottishPower, predicts that costs will jump by nearly £ 1,000 per million households in the next revision of the energy price cap in October.
The UK’s upper-tier middle house raised its bill to £ 1971 on 1 April after the war in Ukraine and Russian sanctions led to soaring oil and gas prices.
The average house in the United Kingdom, whose tariff is tied to the ceiling, rose to £ 1971 on 1 April. Image of the file
ScottishPower estimates that could reach £ 2,900 in the autumn.
Mr Anderson said “targeted” support is needed for the most vulnerable customers, such as those on prepaid meters who want Universal Credit or receive a hot home discount.
He said: “Given what will happen in October, we believe that urgent action is needed to support customers during this period.
Keith Anderson said “targeted” support is needed for the most vulnerable customers, such as prepaid meters. Image of the file
“You need around £ 1,000 to start bringing bills closer not to where they used to be, but closer to where it is realistic to expect people to be able to pay them.
“Our view is clear now that this £ 200 will not be close enough.”
The £ 200 payment was announced earlier this year as part of the government’s efforts to offset the crisis with the cost of living caused by rising inflation.
But Mr Anderson said the amount was insufficient and suggested other methods of funding support worth £ 1,000, such as adding costs to all household energy bills over the next decade to allocate total costs.
He added that although an increase in energy bills of 1,000 pounds in October was not guaranteed, there was “no evidence” in current price trends to suggest that forecasts would change.
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