Scotland is an energy-rich country - but its businesses are being forced to pay the highest prices in the world for using it
Scotland does not control how energy is produced and regulated. Westminster and its energy bodies such as the ESO dictate that renewable power made in Scotland has to be sold at the same high price as in England. That limits the market for it in Scotland. The UK government is planning to upgrade the weak national grid by building a network of pylons to take power south. But even with planned upgrades there will be a growing excess because Scotland has huge potential to generate wind, solar and tidal energy.
If sold at a low cost near to where it is made, through locational or zonal pricing, this extra renewable energy could boost Scottish businesses and the Scottish economy, But the UK won’t allow that. The energy can only be sold at the same price throughout the four countries of the UK. That rule means that energy has to go to waste instead of boosting Scotland’s economy. Only if Scotland was an independent country could it manage its energy in a way that benefits Scotland.