ABERDEENSHIRE has some of the highest energy bills in Scotland, new research can reveal.
In Aberdeenshire, households pay an average energy bill of £1580 a year – £463 more than the area with the cheapest energy bills in Scotland: Glasgow, and well below the average Scottish energy bill of £1362 a year.
The research, by energy experts Compare Boiler Quotes, used the latest data from the Scottish Government’s Energy Statistics Hub to analyse electricity and gas bills in every local authority in Scotland, to discover the area with the most expensive bills.
RANKED: The most expensive energy bills in Scotland
| Scotland Area | Rank | Average Electricity Bill | Average Gas Bill | Average Total Bill |
| Argyll & Bute | 1 | 1208.37 | 633.68 | 1842.06 |
| Eilean Siar (Western Isles) | 2 | 1281.86 | 472.94 | 1754.80 |
| Highland | 3 | 1128.40 | 583.51 | 1711.91 |
| Aberdeenshire | 4 | 944.12 | 636.37 | 1580.49 |
| Perth & Kinross | 5 | 948.99 | 608.90 | 1557.89 |
| East Renfrewshire | 6 | 738.05 | 721.36 | 1459.41 |
| Stirling | 7 | 833.45 | 622.14 | 1455.59 |
| Moray | 8 | 835.99 | 595.45 | 1431.44 |
| Angus | 9 | 840.84 | 581.71 | 1422.56 |
| Dumfries & Galloway | 10 | 846.39 | 566.93 | 1413.32 |
| Scottish Borders | 11 | 837.54 | 572.46 | 1410.01 |
| East Dunbartonshire | 12 | 716.24 | 690.72 | 1406.96 |
| South Lanarkshire | 13 | 734.56 | 602.43 | 1336.99 |
| East Lothian | 14 | 770.33 | 562.75 | 1333.07 |
| South Ayrshire | 15 | 717.28 | 591.30 | 1308.58 |
| Dundee City | 16 | 760.93 | 534.94 | 1295.87 |
| Falkirk | 17 | 707.55 | 569.58 | 1277.13 |
| West Lothian | 18 | 686.05 | 582.80 | 1268.85 |
| Fife | 19 | 692.71 | 573.64 | 1266.35 |
| Aberdeen City | 20 | 707.27 | 558.80 | 1266.07 |
| North Ayrshire | 21 | 713.23 | 541.04 | 1254.28 |
| Midlothian | 22 | 683.42 | 557.93 | 1241.35 |
| North Lanarkshire | 23 | 668.64 | 571.96 | 1240.60 |
| Inverclyde | 24 | 661.80 | 576.21 | 1238.02 |
| Clackmannanshire | 25 | 683.49 | 547.66 | 1231.15 |
| East Ayrshire | 26 | 655.84 | 569.30 | 1225.14 |
| Edinburgh, City of | 27 | 682.99 | 536.20 | 1219.20 |
| Renfrewshire | 28 | 635.84 | 544.50 | 1180.34 |
| West Dunbartonshire | 29 | 623.52 | 504.12 | 1127.64 |
| Glasgow City | 30 | 624.97 | 488.42 | 1113.39 |
| Scotland average | 785.00 | 576.00 | 1362.00 |
Argyll and Bute has the highest energy bills in Scotland. In Argyll and Bute, residents pay an average annual electricity bill of £1208 (well above Scotland’s average annual electricity bill of £785), and an average gas bill of £633 (which well exceeds Scotland’s average annual energy bill of £576). In total, households in Argyll and Bute pay £1842 in energy bills – over £700 more than the area with the cheapest energy bills in Scotland: Glasgow.
Na Eilean Siar (Western Isles) has the second highest energy bills in Scotland, with residents paying an average of £1754 in energy bills every year – nearly £400 more than the Scottish average bill of £1362, and £641 more than Glasgow, the Scottish area with the lowest energy bills.
Highland has the third most expensive energy bills in Scotland. In Highland, residents pay an average of £1711 a year in energy bills – £349 more than the average energy bill in Scotland, and £600 less than Glasgow.
Perth & Kinross and East Renfrewshire also have some of the highest energy bills in the country, with households paying £1557 and £1459 towards their energy bills respectively.
At the other end of the scale, Glasgow has the cheapest energy bills in Scotland, with residents paying just £1113 towards their bills every year – £249 less than the average energy bill in Scotland. West Dunbartonshire and Renfrewshire also have significantly lower energy bills than the rest of the country, with the areas paying £1127 and £1180 towards their bills respectively.
A spokesperson for Compare Boiler Quotes commented on the findings:
“Energy bills are already sky-high and with bills soaring by a predicted £600 in the next few days, it is concerning to see the stark regional differences in energy bills across Scotland, especially when we consider that places such as Aberdeenshire pay over £450 more a year on energy than areas such as Glasgow. It is those homes which are least energy efficient which will suffer the most from rising bills, as escaping heat will mean that your heating system works harder to compensate for the lack of warmth, costing you more.
The government is advocating heat pumps as a solution to soaring energy bills, but these will not be effective without proper floor insulation – which 65 percent of homes in the UK currently lack. While households can use some hacks to insulate their homes better, for example, buying inexpensive pipe insulation from a DIY store, unless something serious is done about the energy crisis, we will see many more households driven into poverty”
