Scotland is an energy-rich nation – the total amount of electricity exported from Scotland in 2022 was worth £4 bn. This was enough to power all Scottish households for more than two years. Yet more than 980,000 Scottish households (39%) are currently in fuel poverty. This is because one in five Scottish dwellings were built pre-1919 and more than 50% of rural homes are off the gas grid and forced to use more expensive heating fuels, such as oil or Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG).
Scottish households also pay some of the highest electricity standing charges in the whole of the UK. The standing charges in northern and southern Scotland are 59.38p and 62.08p per day, respectively, compared with a standing charge of just 38.5p per day, in London. This means that Scottish consumers must pay up to £86 per year more than their London counterparts, even if they use little or no electricity at all. These charges will increase in April. They are set by Ofgem, which claims to “protect energy consumers, especially vulnerable people, by ensuring they are treated fairly”.
**Generation and supply of energy are reserved**
Many people ask why the Scottish government can’t do more to reduce energy bills. The answer is that the most important aspects of energy policy – the generation and supply of electricity, oil and gas, remain reserved to the Westminster Government. Only the promotion of renewable energy and energy efficiency in the housing sector is devolved to the Scottish government. This has allowed Scotland to forge ahead of England in legislating for all domestic private rented properties to have an energy rating of at least D, rising to C next year. However, Scottish politicians’ hands are tied when it comes to reducing energy costs through public ownership of utility companies or by a re-configuration of the electricity grid, for example.
Furthermore, both onshore electricity transmission and distribution operators in Scotland have already been privatised; Scottish and Southern Electricity (SSE) transmits and distributes electricity in the north of Scotland, while SP Energy conducts the same operation in the south. They transmit electricity that is generated by Scottish offshore wind turbines, directly to the National Grid plc, from where it is distributed, mainly to London and the most industrialised parts of England and Wales.
How much profit is made on the £4billion of electricity ?
There a lot more we should be doing than being distracted by this constant fixation on the price of power
1. there should be a progressive green levy (not a flat rate) on power so that say you have a swimming pool in your 8 bedroom suite mansion, you pay more for that extra power than someone in a studio tenement
1. using some of the money raised we invest in thermal cameras & drones plus training to do heat loss surveys for **free** for any house
1. using those green funds we subsidise the insulation of homes starting in the north (including wall insulation)
1. we subsidise solar in south
1. we zero rate for VAT upgrading windows
reduce demand for power is better than reducing the cost
Part of the unionist dividend🇬🇧, an independent Scotland could borrow internationally to fund the storage infrastructure for our green energy. Which we could then rely on rather than feeding it into the national grid and buying back expensive electric power produced by burning expensive gas.
First they took the oil🛢️….. now the electric 💡
Of course loyalists 🇬🇧 would say it’s the energy rich part of the UK providing for the bulk of the UK population 🥴
Because of the broad shoulders of the union that we voted NO for ten years ago, of course, which are used to hit us on the face, repeatedly.
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Scotland is an energy-rich nation – the total amount of electricity exported from Scotland in 2022 was worth £4 bn. This was enough to power all Scottish households for more than two years. Yet more than 980,000 Scottish households (39%) are currently in fuel poverty. This is because one in five Scottish dwellings were built pre-1919 and more than 50% of rural homes are off the gas grid and forced to use more expensive heating fuels, such as oil or Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG).
Scottish households also pay some of the highest electricity standing charges in the whole of the UK. The standing charges in northern and southern Scotland are 59.38p and 62.08p per day, respectively, compared with a standing charge of just 38.5p per day, in London. This means that Scottish consumers must pay up to £86 per year more than their London counterparts, even if they use little or no electricity at all. These charges will increase in April. They are set by Ofgem, which claims to “protect energy consumers, especially vulnerable people, by ensuring they are treated fairly”.
**Generation and supply of energy are reserved**
Many people ask why the Scottish government can’t do more to reduce energy bills. The answer is that the most important aspects of energy policy – the generation and supply of electricity, oil and gas, remain reserved to the Westminster Government. Only the promotion of renewable energy and energy efficiency in the housing sector is devolved to the Scottish government. This has allowed Scotland to forge ahead of England in legislating for all domestic private rented properties to have an energy rating of at least D, rising to C next year. However, Scottish politicians’ hands are tied when it comes to reducing energy costs through public ownership of utility companies or by a re-configuration of the electricity grid, for example.
Furthermore, both onshore electricity transmission and distribution operators in Scotland have already been privatised; Scottish and Southern Electricity (SSE) transmits and distributes electricity in the north of Scotland, while SP Energy conducts the same operation in the south. They transmit electricity that is generated by Scottish offshore wind turbines, directly to the National Grid plc, from where it is distributed, mainly to London and the most industrialised parts of England and Wales.
How much profit is made on the £4billion of electricity ?
There a lot more we should be doing than being distracted by this constant fixation on the price of power
1. there should be a progressive green levy (not a flat rate) on power so that say you have a swimming pool in your 8 bedroom suite mansion, you pay more for that extra power than someone in a studio tenement
1. using some of the money raised we invest in thermal cameras & drones plus training to do heat loss surveys for **free** for any house
1. using those green funds we subsidise the insulation of homes starting in the north (including wall insulation)
1. we subsidise solar in south
1. we zero rate for VAT upgrading windows
reduce demand for power is better than reducing the cost
Part of the unionist dividend🇬🇧, an independent Scotland could borrow internationally to fund the storage infrastructure for our green energy. Which we could then rely on rather than feeding it into the national grid and buying back expensive electric power produced by burning expensive gas.
First they took the oil🛢️….. now the electric 💡
Of course loyalists 🇬🇧 would say it’s the energy rich part of the UK providing for the bulk of the UK population 🥴
Because of the broad shoulders of the union that we voted NO for ten years ago, of course, which are used to hit us on the face, repeatedly.