Energy suppliers are under pressure from the Scottish Nationalists Party to cut the number of customers on prepayment meters.
The Scottish Nationalist Party’s manifesto, published yesterday (30 May), says that its MPs will press the UK government on a package of measures to cut costs and increase the transparency in the energy market.
These include placing a new duty on energy companies to set out a clear timetable to reduce the number of people on prepayment meters.
The SNP would also use its parliamentary clout to push Westminster to make energy companies prioritise the roll-out of smart meters to households at risk of fuel poverty
Tackling the contentious issue of standard variable tariff’s the SNP’s manifesto says its MPs will press the UK government to cap SVTs. It also demands that the Competition and Markets Autority’s reccomendations, especially with regards to metering, be implmented “immediately” and that financial health checks are introduced to help customers switch to the lowest tariffs and realising energy saving opportunities.
The manifesto also pledges that the SNP’s parliamentary bloc will press the Westminster government to provide long term certainty for low cost green energy schemes by including onshore wind in its industrial strategy.
Nationalist MPs will support the development of wind and other renewable energy projects in the Northern and Western Isles and the manifesto insists on a “clear timescale” for delivery of the interconnectors required to transmit electricity generated there to the mainland.
The manifesto says the SNP MPs will work to ensure continued funding for Scotland’s renewable energy sector from the EU, which is setting up a £320m wind and tidal investment fund.
Finally, the SNP has committed to build a regulatory environment to support investment in new energy storage schemes, to overhaul of the transmission charge system which it says “penalises” Scottish generation and to secure funding for developing carbon capture and storage technology. It claims Scotland’s oil and gas industry should give the nation a head start in this market.