Scottish Power Unaffordability

scglasgow

You have written to me to inform me that the unit rates for my electricity are rising by 37.8%.
Fair enough but why is my daily standing rate rising by 86.3%??

My income from ESA is £120/week. My new bill will be £26.71/week i.e. 22.25% of my income just on power.

Please can you tell me just how I am supposed to afford to pay this??

Sincerely

Stuart Campbell   

I sent this to Scottish Power today I'll be interested in their reply especially after MSE stated that Scottish Power is not going to allow people like me on prepayment meters to overpay to postpone the impact of their price rise!?

MWT

Not much help I know, but the explanation for the standing charge is here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6339555/mse-update-why-is-the-standing-charge-for-electricity-nearly-doubling-from-1-april#latest

tacpot12

Unfortunately there is nothing that guarantees that energy will always be affordable. (OFGEM's cap doesn't take into account what people can afford). It is not going to be affordable for most people for the next 18 months at least. Planning on reducing your consumption is the best option.

You might complaint to you MP about the increase in the standing charge vs. the charges for the energy you actually use. Ultimately, the standing charge ensures that the energy companies gets enough income to run the network even if nobody consumes anything.