Seven out of ten Scots are concerned about rising energy bills, as rising costs of living are felt through higher bills. What’s more, this trend is only expected to continue in the coming months.
With every household looking for ways to keep their bills low, from using energy more efficiently to taking regular meter readings, your energy bill will also vary depending on your location.
With that in mind, research conducted 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.
“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,” said a spokesperson for Compare Boiler Quotes. “In some areas of Scotland residents are paying over £700 a year on more on energy than the cheapest places, and it seems to be the more rural and remote areas such as Eilean Siar and Argyll and Bute which are suffering most.
"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.”
Here are the ten areas in Scotland with the highest annual average energy bills, also broken down into electricity and gas.

1. Argyll & Bute
Argyll & Bute comes in at number one, with an average electriity bill of £1208.37 and an average gas bill of £633.68, coming to a total energy bill of £1842.06. This far exceeds Scotland's average of electricity and energy bills, which are £785 and £576 respectively. It's also £700 more than Scotland's cheapest area, Glasgow. Photo: VasArt / Getty Images / Canva Pro

2. Eilean Siar
Eilean Siar, the only Scottish council area with a Gaelic name only, comes in second in the list. The council area that covers the Western Isles has an average total bill of £1754.80, broken down into £1281.86 for electricity and £472.94 for gas. Photo: lucentius / Getty Images / Canva Pro

3. Highland
In third, electricity bills in the Highlands cost £1128.40 on average, gas £583.51, combining to make a total of £1711.91 in energy bills a year. Photo: kareni / pixabay / Canva Pro

4. Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire is the next Scottish council area on the list, with an average annual electricity bill of £944.12 and an annual average gas bill of £636.37. This comes to a total of £1580.49 paid in annual energy bills. Photo: Susanne Neumann / Getty Images / Canva Pro


