Scots households are still facing a £67-a-month energy bill increase from April despite the extension of the energy price freeze until the summer.
Tory Chancellor Jeremy Hunt confirmed ahead of his Budget speech that the Energy Price Guarantee will be extended for another three months.
The Energy Price Guarantee limits the average household energy bill to £2,500 and had been due to increase to £3,000 in April.
But Scots will still have to find an extra £67-a-month to pay their energy bills from April when the Government’s separate Energy Bill Support Scheme comes to an end.
The Energy Bill Support Scheme gave all households receive six monthly payments of £66 or £67 for energy costs.
SNP economy spokesperson Stewart Hosie slammed the Tories for not extending the Energy Bill support scheme.
He said: "It's truly pathetic that the Chancellor has failed to cut energy bills, despite having ample resources to do so. The Tories are ripping families off by keeping bills at such exorbitantly sky-high levels, with many families forced to pay three times what they paid a year ago.
"With energy companies making record profits, and the wholesale price of gas falling, there is no excuse for this shameful Tory decision, which will hammer household incomes and push even more families into poverty, hardship and debt. And with the Chancellor also withdrawing the £400 energy bill support payments, many households will be hundreds of pounds worse off.
"Instead of punishing families, the Tories could have saved households £1,400 by backing the SNP's calls to cut energy bills by 20% and maintain support payments for all those that currently receive them. This vital support could be funded using the £30billion extra headroom available to the Chancellor, and by making fairer choices like introducing a levy on share buy backs, scrapping non-dom tax status and expanding the windfall tax.
"Scotland is a wealthy, energy-rich country but families are being fleeced by Westminster. With change on offer from the Tories or pro-cuts, pro-Brexit Labour Party it's clear independence is the only way for Scotland to build a strong, fair and prosperous future."
The UK Government had come under increasing pressure in recent weeks to cancel the rise to the Energy Price Guarantee. It had been set to come into force from April 1.
It has become more affordable for the Government to continue protecting customers because wholesale energy prices have dropped.
Energy prices are now 50 per cent lower than forecast in October and are projected to continue dropping.
The average household would have been paying an annualised bill of almost £4,300 between January and April without the Government’s help. The support reduced that to £2,500.
This means that the Government has been paying around £1,800 toward each household’s energy bills.
The bill from April would have reached around £3,300 for the average household without Government support, according to the latest Ofgem price cap announcement.
Lower wholesale gas prices are expected to feed through further to customers from July. Experts have predicting the Ofgem price cap will reach just over £2,000 a year for a typical household.
Hunt said: “High energy bills are one of the biggest worries for families, which is why we’re maintaining the energy price guarantee at its current level.
“With energy bills set to fall from July onwards, this temporary change will bridge the gap and ease the pressure on families, while also helping to lower inflation too.”
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