 Energy firms have been accused of punishing customers |
A huge rise has been recorded in the number of people in Scotland who have had their power supplies cut off for failing to pay their bills. The figure has soared from 40 two years ago to almost 740 in the first nine months of this year.
The gas and electricity watchdog, EnergyWatch, has called for disconnections caused by debt to be outlawed and said it was particularly concerned that some companies seemed to be taking an increasingly hard line.
Energy retailers have insisted that disconnections are only carried out as "a last resort".
Scottish Power said that in cases where customers refused to respond to repeated calls, it had no other option but to disconnect.
However John Hanlon, chairman of EnergyWatch Scotland, told BBC Scotland that the behaviour of some companies was unacceptable.
He said: "Companies are using disconnections as a means of punishing their customers.
"The industry signed up to debt and disconnection guidelines 18 months ago and one of the measures of success of that was to be a reduction in the number of disconnections and the industry has simply failed to deliver on that."
Mr Hanlon added that of the 141 cases of electricity disconnection carried out between July and September, Scottish and Southern Energy were responsible for five while Scottish Power carried out 136.
He also called for an end to disconnections due to debt.
'Pre-payment meters'
However Duncan Sedgwick, director of the Energy Retailers Association, described the increase as a "short-term blip" and said there was now a "dramatic reduction" to normal levels.
He added: "Disconnection is very much a means of last resort. We don't want to disconnect people and we will do absolutely everything in our power to avoid that from happening.
"The number of people disconnected is still a very small percentage of the total number of customers.
"We will have exhausted all other possibilities, we will always be contacting the customer in an attempt to try and make a payment arrangement and will always try and see whether it is possible to fit a pre-payment meter in their property."
His views were backed by energy suppliers Scottish Power.
A spokesman for the firm said: "Our objective is always to help the customer that is why repeated attempts are made by letter, phone or personal visits to ensure they are on the most suitable payment arrangement.
"A very small number, 0.03% of our customers, fail to respond, and even on these occasions our first intention is to offer a pre-payment meter it is only when this is refused and we are left with no alternative that we proceed with disconnection.
"It is worth noting, however, that over 60% of disconnections are reconnected on the same day with customers either agreeing to have a pre-payment meter installed or settling their account."
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The number of people disconnected is still a very small percentage of the total number of customers 
