Nicola Sturgeon has renewed calls for the UK government to freeze energy bills as she declared the cost of living crisis this winter a “public emergency”.
The First Minister said there had been consensus at the Bute House summit on Wednesday with energy suppliers and consumer organisations in Scotland.
Sturgeon said the UK Government must address the impact of power bills that could double in October to over £3,000 and to over £5,000 a household by New Year.
The First Minister said: “Any further increase in energy bills in October will have a profound impact on households, businesses and the public sector already struggling with the cost crisis.
“No single government, company or organisation can solve this crisis alone. It requires a collective response commensurate to the situation and the Scottish Government is now treating this situation as a public emergency.
She added: “There was clear consensus at today’s summit that energy customers simply cannot be expected to carry the burden of further price rises in October.
“The UK Government must now commit to freeze the cap for all households and to support the energy companies to deliver that.”
The meeting heard plans from the power companies for a £100 billion fund to freeze energy bills for two years.
Scottish Power’s chief executive Keith Anderson presented the plans to the First Minister having already talked to UK Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng about them.
The First Minister said: “This meeting was focussed on practical solutions, but without action by the UK Government to address the problem at source, the actions we discussed can only ever mitigate the impact of such dramatic price rises at the edges.”
She added: “I am grateful to energy suppliers and our third sector partners for coming to the table today and for committing to work together with the Scottish Government to develop further action and practical steps to help households and businesses through the cost crisis.”
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