Scotland’s energy sector is a powerhouse of the economy. In a future independent Scotland it will sit alongside food and drink, and finance, to grow our economy – entirely to Scotland’s benefit.

By 2019 Scotland’s energy sector had grown to provide over £15.6bn/yr of exports. Much of that was to the rest of the UK but a growing amount to elsewhere.

But it’s not just about economic success. As a net generator of energy, Scotland’s households should enjoy low fuel bills – and low fuel poverty. Instead it is in a uniquely bad position:

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Fuel poverty is the condition where a household is unable to afford to heat their home to an adequate temperature. It is caused by low income, high fuel prices, poor energy efficiency, unaffordable housing prices and poor quality private rental housing.

Energy balance is the difference between energy imports and exports (a negative number shows the country exports more than it uses).

Compare Scotland and Norway: both are large net exporters of energy. Yet in Norway only 6% of households suffer fuel povery – and in Scotland some 34%. Scotland’s figure is one of the highest in Europe. How can this be?

Even Germany, which is a very large net importer of energy, still has much lower fuel povery than Scotland.

The answer is in how Westminster regulates the UK energy market. Scotland gets penalised and the energy companies (mostly foriegn owned, incidentally) make huge profits. This would not be the situation when Scotland regains independence. Bills will come down significantly – and so will fuel poverty.