Warning that power price hike will see more slide into fuel poverty

Representatives from Scottish Hydro, part of energy company SSE, will be in Kirkwall next week, to offer advice on energy costs.

The event, in the Scottish Hydro Shop in Kirkwall’s Albert Street, takes place next Friday, October 18.

The event follows the announcement, this week, that Scottish Hydro customers are facing an 8.2 per cent hike in the cost of electricity – a move described by Orkney Housing Association Ltd (OHAL) as “crippling”.

Robert Leslie, OHAL’s environmental co-ordinator, said: “Coming on top of an 11 per cent average rise in Scottish Hydro bills in September 2011, and a 9 per cent hike in October 2012, this is a crippling blow to our most vulnerable tenants as we head into another winter.”

Mr Leslie added that the percentage of OHAL tenants estimated to be in fuel poverty jumped from 36 per cent in 2007 to 45 per cent in 2010 — a figure that is likely to rise again.

Mr Leslie urged anyone with concerns over their electricity bills to go to the SSE energy advice sessions next Friday.