Moray SNP News

LOCHHEAD CALLS ON CHANCELLOR TO REVERSE UPCOMING INCREASE TO ENERGY PRICE GUARANETEE

Moray MSP Richard Lochhead has called on the UK Government to reverse a planned increase to the energy price guarantee and pass on a reduction in wholesale energy prices after Ofgem published its reduced price cap. 

At the moment, energy bills are currently set and subsidised by the UK Government’s energy price guarantee with energy bills capped at £2,500 per year for a typical household, significantly lower than the £4,279 energy cap set by Ofgem.

Ofgem announced this week the new cap will fall by nearly £1,000 from April to £3,280, however bills are still set to increase as the UK Government's energy price guarantee is set to rise from £2,500 to £3,000 a year. That is despite wholesale gas prices dropping by 75% since their peak in the summer of 2022.

Mr Lochhead is calling on the Chancellor to pass on this price drop to consumers by reducing the energy price guarantee cap by 20% to £2,000.

Commenting SNP MSP Richard Lochhead said:

“While Ofgem have announced a reduction in the energy price cap, people across Moray will be perplexed at the fact the UK Government are set to increase their energy bills by a further £500 from April.

“The UK Government will actually be spending less on the energy price guarantee because of the reduction in the Ofgem cap, so households should be seeing the impact of this on their energy bills. Instead, the Chancellor is planning on keeping the surplus whilst energy bills for households and businesses skyrocket again.

“Jeremy Hunt must pass on the reduction in wholesale gas prices to consumers and bring down the government’s cap on bills to £2,000 per year.

“In a country as energy rich as Scotland, people should not be paying through the nose for their gas and electricity. Decades of Westminster mismanagement of Scotland’s resources has allowed this to happened and only with independence can we truly harness the potential of Scotland’s renewable energy industry and ensure the people of Scotland benefit from our resources.”