Access to affordable energy for heating, lighting and household appliances is essential to maintain the quality of life for consumers in Scotland.
Consumer Focus Scotland works to provide access, choice and information to energy consumers, with a particular focus on the needs of disadvantaged consumers:
• We work to make sure consumers can access the services that they need and want.
• We look at the extent of the choice that is available.
• We look to see if consumers have the information they need, presented in ways that they can use to make informed choices.
Competition and consumers
The gas and electricity markets in Scotland were opened up to competition in 1998, giving consumers the opportunity to choose between a range of different suppliers. Competition is supposed to give consumers the power to choose and change suppliers so that they benefit from:
• lower prices
• better service,
• value for money
However, an increase in the number of suppliers has not in itself guaranteed an effective, competitive marketplace for consumers. The range of services provided need to be truly accessible to everyone and not just customers with more spending power, or to those best able to use on-line services to secure the best deal.
People need clear, comparative information about complex tariff arrangements if their choice of suppler is to be an informed one. Experience shows that switching between suppliers can have benefits, but that this is not always the case.
Fuel Poverty
People on lower incomes use a higher proportion of that income to pay for fuel and therefore stand to gain most from lower prices; households which spend more than 10% of their income in this way are said to be fuel poor. Consumer Focus Scotland is a member of the Scottish Fuel Poverty Forum which advises the Scottish Government on its approach to ending fuel poverty. The Energy Assistance Package introduced by the Scottish Government provides advice on both energy efficiency and benefit entitlement for consumers.
Households in rural Scotland which do not have access to mains gas are particularly vulnerable to high costs of heating, and we work to ensure their needs are recognised.
When things go wrong…
Consumers also need a simple, quick and fair system for putting things right when things go wrong. Ensuring this system works for all consumers is a critical part of our role. More details on this process are available here.
Long Term Trends
Energy prices have risen in recent years, offset only slightly by recent, smaller falls in costs. It is likely that changes in international markets, together with the need for new investments to maintain long term gas and electricity supplies, will put further pressure on prices.
We will work to ensure that the interests of consumers are protected during this process, and that Government and Ofgem take account of the impacts of rising costs in decision-making.
Energy Efficiency and Household and Community Renewable Energy
In addition to new investment, there is increasing emphasis on energy efficiency as part of the solution to energy costs, fuel poverty and climate change (link to climate change bit of our site). We will work to ensure that energy efficiency services are delivered in ways which meet the needs of all consumers.
In the future, we expect that renewable energy generated at the level of households or communities will become more important. We recognised that these technologies can have particular benefits in areas without access to mains gas. We will promote their availability and accessibility to all consumers, including those for whom the initial costs currently present barriers – this is an area in which we will carry out more work in 2009.