Revealed: Parts of Scotland have to pay nearly double Liz Truss's Energy Price Guarantee bills freeze

New analysis, which lays bare the extent of the hit on the nation shows that the typical Scots' dual fuel bill will be £3302 - over £800 more than what was set by the big fuel bill freeze.

The gap in prices between the highest and lowest dual fuel bills across Scotland's local authority areas has more than doubled in the past year.

In April the gap was £728.67. As of October that has grown to £1749.02.

Energy Action Scotland, the only national campaign organisation set up to end fuel poverty in the nation, says that there has not been enough action to stop the disparity in pricing by making homes more energy efficient across Scotland.

It estimates that the cost of moving people out of the poverty gap through home improvements has doubled since 2019.

Official figures show the lowest rates of fuel poverty are associated with higher energy efficiency standards. some 20% of Scots households living in post-1982 dwellings and 20% of households living in dwellings that had average energy efficiency ratings or better were fuel poor.

Frazer Scott, chief executive of Energy Action Scotland said: "Some geographical locations and households in Scotland need more support. You have to see this as a problem that needs an immediate solution and really should have been dealt with."

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Details of what real fuel bills cost across Scotland comes after the UK Government stepped in with what it described as a "historic intervention" with an Energy Price Guarantee which was to mean that the typical UK household would from last weekend pay an average £2,500 a year on a dual fuel energy bill for the next two years.

It stepped in after an 80% increase in domestic gas and electricity bills was earmarked for the first half of winter through energy market regulator Ofgem's price cap.

The bills analysis, which takes into account energy usage, and is based on official Scottish energy statistics, shows that across Scotland the typical dual fuel bill has gone from £1375.97 last year to £3302.45 as of October 1.

In the continuing postcode lottery of average dual fuel energy bills in local authority areas, people on Argyll and Bute, which includes the islands of Bute, Islay, Jura, Mull, Iona, Coll and Tiree, are worst hit with a 140% rise since last year.

Argyll and Bute face the highest costs of the 32 local authority areas in Scotland with average annual dual fuel bills soaring from £1,842.06 in April, last year, to £4,421.49 as of this month.

That is over two thirds more the typical household will be forecast to pay in Glasgow City this month which at £2,672.47 is the least expensive local authority area for bills in Scotland.

Residents of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, the council that covers the Western Isles face the second highest bill hikes with average prices soaring from £1,754.80 last year to £4,212.57 now.

And in the Shetland Islands bills have risen from £1,717.28 to £4,121.98.

Analysts say one of the reason for the energy bill gap is the condition of the housing stock, colder and wetter weather, and the limited availability of gas in rural Scotland meaning many only heat their homes with oil or electricity which is more expensive.

It is estimated that 17 per cent of households in Scotland, nearly 420,000 are not connected to the gas mains and 217,000, use fuels other than mains gas or electricity to heat their homes.

Around 129,000 in the country use heating oil as their primary source of heating fuel, the price of which has shot up more than 230% in the last two years, from £0.31 a litre to £1.05.

Houses which are off the mains gas and use domestic heating oil, LPG or solid fuel to meet their energy needs are seen as part of the “hidden impact” of the cost of living crisis.

Last week the Herald revealed that those Scots who do not qualify for Liz Truss's energy bills freeze because they use alternative fuels are to get just £100 towards their increased costs.

There is also the extra costs in supplying and distributing electricity to northern Scotland which is said to be 2p more per kilowatt hour than in the south. That extra cost is passed on to the consumer through network distribution charges and there have been calls to have them scrapped.

Mr Scott said: "We need housing and communities to be more resilient. We are spending an inordinate amount on the symptoms but it is temporary and we need to ge t to the cause and we need greater home improvements on insulation."

He was concerned that it was customers who would end up paying back the bills freeze in the end and that it should be the energy industry that should be covering the costs through a windfall tax.

"The cap is an open cheque. They don't know how much they are going to pay. The worst option to payback is putting it back through energy bills as that will just impact on those with the lowest incomes."

It comes as the Prime Minister was urged to publicly state that “nobody” will pay more than £2,500 for their annual energy bill as the new price cap kicked in last weekend.

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During a round of interviews last week Liz Truss repeatedly talked about her energy price guarantee limiting bills to a maximum of £2,500. However the Government’s plan only caps the cost per unit that households pay, with actual bills still determined by how much energy is consumed.

Fact checking charity Full Fact said it wrote to Ms Truss to stress that “it is vital the public have accurate information about energy bills in the context of the ongoing cost-of-living crisis”.

Full Fact chief executive Will Moy said: “We wrote to the Prime Minister about getting this wrong only yesterday. The Government’s energy plans will affect every household in Britain this winter. And yet Liz Truss has repeatedly misled listeners this morning.

“She must now publicly correct her mistake to make sure people are not misled about their energy prices and hit with unexpected and unaffordable energy bills this winter.”

Ms Truss has since apologised for not being “more specific” following her statements that “nobody” will pay more than £2,500 for their annual energy bill.