The energy price cap is to increase by 6.4% over the period covering April to June 2025. For an average household paying by Direct Debit for dual fuel this equates to £1,849 per year. 

Fuel Poverty in Remote and Rural Scotland highlights the difficulties people are facing in remote areas, where 44% of households are in fuel poverty.

Based on a review of extensive research including from Changeworks, the Existing Homes Alliance (EHA), the Cross Party Group in the Scottish Parliament on Poverty and Tighean Innse Gall (TIG), the evidence shows that rural and remote homes in Scotland face the perfect storm when it comes to dealing with fuel poverty.

Not only are they less likely to have access to cheaper gas heating than those in urban areas, they suffer from the ‘rural’ premium where the cost of living is 15-30% higher as a result of more expensive petrol, less public transport and a lack of affordable housing.

The Scottish Fuel Poverty Advisory Panel is calling for a different approach to those rural and island communities where the energy price cap falls well short of reflecting the energy needed to heat homes with limited (or no access) to gas and, for many, heating systems which require a daily electricity consumption well beyond the UK average.

Matthew Cole, chair of Scottish Fuel Poverty Advisory Panel, said: “Householders are struggling to cope with rising energy bills and continued high prices could push many families further into debt. Research from Citizens Advice Scotland showed that average energy debt for people in rural areas who sought advice was £3,130, which is £630 more than the Scottish national average and this figure is just going to rise as prices spiral.

“There needs to be greater recognition of the unique circumstances facing rural and remote communities and for grants and funding to be tailored accordingly – one size does not fit all.

“Not only are a higher proportion of homes in rural areas in the least energy efficient EPC F and G bands, but only 40% of rural households use the most cost-effective mains gas as their primary heating fuel compared to 89% in urban areas.”

The issue is particularly worrying in Orkney and Shetland, where 100% of homes are off the gas grid, followed by 88% in the Western Isles. This compares to 19% in Scotland as a whole.

Kirsty MacLeod, energy advice manager at housing and energy agency Tighean Innse Gall, based in Stornoway knows only too well the impact of rising energy prices on people’s lives.

She said: “A lot of people in the Western Isles heat their homes using electricity and it costs around four times as much as gas heating. Only paying the price cap of around £1,800 would be a dream for many people in the Western Isles. Lots of people are paying double that or even more and we have had some people coming to us saying they are paying £5-6,000 a year for their heating and that is just with a single income coming into the household.”

The Panel recommends a bespoke approach to the structural disadvantage suffered by rural and remote areas to tackle the fuel poverty these communities experience – the highest in Scotland, drawing on the experience of frontline support workers and the report recommendations which include:

• Energy efficiency grants and loans to take into account the additional installation and running costs in rural areas
• A requirement for expanded and secure funding for locally-delivered energy advice services
• The need for regulation of currently unregulated alternative fuel sources – such as oil, LPG and solid fuels
• The importance of maximising local energy generation benefits

The report also highlights concerns over the pace of the roll-out of Smart Meters in Scotland ahead of the switch off this June of Radio Teleswitch (RTS) meters. The meters use a radio signal to switch between peak and off-peak rates and may no longer work properly, meaning that a customer’s heating and hot water supply stops functioning.

It says that the smart meter rollout is lagging behind, particularly in a number of Scottish rural communities. According to research from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero only 10% of meters in Shetland are smart followed by 12% in Orkney, 16% in the Western Isles, 27% in Argyll and Bute and 35% in the Highlands.

Kirsty added: “The June deadline for the switch off is fast approaching. In the Western Isles 2,700 homes are still on RTS meters, which use a radio signal to switch between peak and off-peak rates. Part of the problem is when people phone to get an appointment to change to a smart meter they are told there isn’t an engineer in their area.

“Energy Suppliers are nowhere near the target they should be at and we are really concerned about what is going to happen to these householders after the deadline.”