Around a third of Scottish Power customers will see their annual energy bills go up by 5.5% at the start of June.
The price hike will happen on the 1st of June and will mean that those on an average standard variable dual fuel tariff will see yearly bills increase by £63 to a total of £1,211. Scottish Power customers on either prepaid or fixed tariffs will not see a price increase until they renew their tariff. The energy provider has said that they will be contacting customers affected and offering them the chance to switch to a fixed price deal before the price hike comes into effect.
Scottish Power is now the third of the ‘big six’ energy companies to have announced price increases in 2018. British Gas recently confirmed that gas and electricity bills will increase on average by £60 starting from the end of May. Eon also made a recent announcement saying that customers on their standard variable tariff will find their bills increased by 2.7% come June.
Scottish Power retail CEO retail Neil Clitheroe said: “Unfortunately our standard variable prices are increasing. This reflects rising wholesale energy costs and compulsory non-energy costs.
“Two-thirds of our customers are unaffected. We will be contacting all customers affected by the price change to give them the opportunity to move to a fixed price tariff alternative and avoid this increase.”
If you are on a standard variable tariff (SVT) then there it is highly likely that you will be paying more than you should be for your energy even before the price increases comes into play. SVTs have traditionally been the tariffs that consumers have been placed on when their contracts auto-renew. As the name suggests the prices of SVTs are subject to fluctuation, and they generally have the highest rates out of available tariffs.
If you have found yourself on the wrong end of a price increase and are unhappy about it, then you have the option of moving to another tariff without having to pay an exit fee. If you want to find out what deals are available in your area, check out our handy comparison tool to see how much you could save.
