Scottish Power announces 8% gas price cut

In line with the rest of the sector Scottish Power has today announced an 8% reduction in gas prices from the end of March. This comes at a time when the UK energy sector seems to be realigning itself after recent price reductions in the wholesale market and criticism that these reductions were not being passed on to the retail market as quickly as they could have been.

Scottish Power believes that 1.6 million of the company's domestic gas customers will benefit immediately to the tune of £66 a year and the company has also put aside additional funding for 60,000 customers identified as vulnerable. These are customers who heat their homes with electricity and who will be in line for a £50 rebate from the company in due course. It seems that the UK energy sector is finally waking up to customer concerns regarding ever-increasing energy bills.

It is interesting to see that Scottish Power has identified so-called vulnerable customers under its care and announced plans to help them with their energy bills in the short term. We are likely to see similar schemes from the other UK energy operators as they look to curry favour with UK voters and the UK government.