First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to meet energy bosses amid price cap warning

Nicola Sturgeon is set to meet with bosses from the energy sector having insisted that the energy price cap rise must not go ahead.

The First Minister will convene a summit with representatives from energy supply companies and consumer groups on Tuesday.

It will include major companies including Scottish Power, OVO Energy, Centrica, Octopus and E.ON.

They will discuss what can be done to help support households struggling with rising energy bills.

Ofgem’s next energy price cap announcement will be made on Friday.

It is forecast to reach over £3,500 and more than £4,600 at the start of next year.

Sturgeon has argued that the rise must not be allowed to go ahead.

Speaking ahead of the meeting on Tuesday, the First Minister said the Scottish Government will also look at what can be done to provide help to households.

“I want to make sure we’re working with energy providers to ensure that they are doing everything they possibly can to shield their customers and in particular their most vulnerable customers from the impact of the massive rises in energy bills,” she said.

“That’s about ensuring that there is protection from disconnection, that there is an understanding in terms of the position of customers who’ll be unable to pay some of these bills.

“We will also be looking to see what more the Scottish Government can do across a whole range of responsibilities to provide maximum help.”

The First Minister called on the UK Government to “step in and take meaningful action”, as she warned of a looming disaster.

She said: “This is all about trying to mitigate the problem that needs, in my view, to be addressed at source.

“We are later this week going to see the next increase in the energy price cap. It is terrifying what lies ahead for households and businesses across the country if action is not taken.

“The UK Government has the power to step in and take meaningful action and I’m calling again on it to cancel this next increase in the energy price cap in order that that looming disaster is averted.”

Sturgeon said that people are “terrified” about the price cap rising from October.

“The first and foremost thing that must happen in my view is that the increase in the cost of energy bills must be stopped,” she said.

“The next increase in the price cap mustn’t be allowed to go ahead so that there is immediate relief for individuals who are terrified at what will otherwise lie ahead.”

The First Minister also backed suggestions that there should be a windfall tax on profits made by energy firms.

She said: “There should be another windfall tax on companies that are making windfall profits.

“Whether that is from the current global situation around energy or companies that have made windfall profits through different aspects of the Covid pandemic.”