Green Blog
30 June 2011
The Sheriff of Nottingham had nothing on Scottish Power
Robin Hood, famed for taking from the rich to give to the poor, would be screaming from the Sherwood treetops after the latest moves by big energy company Scottish Power.
Not content with sky-high price rises - the company recently announced average electricity bills would be going up by 10% and gas bills by 19% from August - it now emerges that its poorest customers who use the least electricity will be hit hardest and energy-wasters will suffer far less.
Buried in the detail of those average rises is the news that Scottish Power's standing charges - which make up a bigger proportion of the bill for people using less energy - are rising by up to 79%. King John and the Sheriff of Nottingham would be impressed.
While Robin, Little John and friends were nattily dressed in Lincoln green, Scottish Power's garments are more likely to be a dirty brown. More than 91% of its energy comes from polluting fossil fuels - coal and gas. So it's robbing from tomorrow's generations too - especially the poorest and least equipped to adapt to a changing climate.
But though Scottish Power and its five fellow big energy companies might appear most like the dastardly Sheriff, they do have one thing in common with Robin's outlaws - they're clearly a band of very Merry Men. With combined profits in the billions, margins were reportedly up by nearly 50% in the 4 months to January this year.
And as they rake in the cash the rest of us are having our wallets squeezed - with up to 12 million people at risk of having to choose between heating and eating. The Big Six, which supply 99% of our energy, are not playing fair, accused by power regulator Ofgem of ripping off customers to the tune of £250 million last winter.
It's enough to turn you (Will) Scarlet with rage against the Big Six rip-off. When it comes to those with the least money (now and in the future), it seems they don't give a Friar Tuck.
Paul Steedman, Campaigner
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