Energy Prices

[Kepler-186]

15 minutes ago, Section_31 said:

Posted it before but I watched a thing once about the credit crunch and the US treasury honcho got the bank bosses in a room and told them civilization was essentially about to collapse, but he said people were making excuses to leave the room to make phone calls to try and make money out of it. 

 

People have to proceed under the assumption that at least a chunk of the people who run big business are high functioning psychopaths and they have to be viewed and treated as such.

Led by the worst of us. Learnt how to smile as they kill. 

[Gnasher]

 

 

 

[Gnasher]

36 minutes ago, Gnasher said:

Fucking hell, its a broken clock moment for Desperate Dan,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Labour Party are not worth a fucking toss.

 

 

[Vincent Vega]

11 hours ago, Mook said:

That makes sense but only takes into account wholesale price increases, why would the price cap in January be going up if wholesale prices have been falling recently?

 

Also, how are some of the larger companies reporting huge profits if they are down (for example £100 per month) on thousands/millions of houses?

 

Apologies if these are stupid questions but a lot of people are asking them & I've not seen any clear answers.

There’s a good explanation of how all this shit works from the boss of Octopus who I have my energy deal with here.

 

[Vincent Vega]

The standing charge is also a scam that needs to be got rid of. I’m charged 47p per day for electricity and 27p per day for gas before I’ve used anything. Apparently the Merseyside area and North Wales have the highest standing charges in the country. As I’ve got an electric oven I hardly use any gas between May and October, but I’m still having to pay approximately £8.10 per month for simply having it available.

[Captain Howdy]

2 minutes ago, Vincent Vega said:

The standing charge is also a scam that needs to be got rid of. I’m charged 47p per day for electricity and 27p per day for gas before I’ve used anything. Apparently the Merseyside area and North Wales have the highest standing charges in the country. As I’ve got an electric oven I hardly use any gas between May and October, but I’m still having to pay approximately £8.10 per month for simply having it available.

The whole industry is a grift and it needs running through. Completely unfit for purpose

[johnsusername]

5 minutes ago, Captain Howdy said:

The whole COUNTRY is a grift and it needs running through. Completely unfit for purpose

Fixed it.

[Section_31]

Starmer leading from the back. I can't remember anyone residing the room this badly since I went to the Krazy House in a Ted Baker shirt and a pair of Timberland boat shoes.

[Rico1304]

38 minutes ago, Vincent Vega said:

The standing charge is also a scam that needs to be got rid of. I’m charged 47p per day for electricity and 27p per day for gas before I’ve used anything. Apparently the Merseyside area and North Wales have the highest standing charges in the country. As I’ve got an electric oven I hardly use any gas between May and October, but I’m still having to pay approximately £8.10 per month for simply having it available.

The energy companies still have charges for the meter (whistles) maintenance of the network etc whether you use gas or not.  If you had a leak someone would come out, that kind of stuff has to be paid for.  

[Colonel Bumcunt]

37 minutes ago, Captain Howdy said:

The whole industry is a grift and it needs running through. Completely unfit for purpose

As is every privately owned industry over time, everytime.  

[Captain Howdy]

7 minutes ago, Section_31 said:

Starmer leading from the back. I can't remember anyone residing the room this badly since I went to the Krazy House in a Ted Baker shirt and a pair of Timberland boat shoes.

Awful isn’t he. Just pointless 

[Kepler-186]

 

[elvis]

On 09/08/2022 at 15:53, Champ said:

I’m starting to get really worried about what’s coming. I hate being cold but I don’t have the money for these kind of increases. I hate the cold but I can’t spend that kind of money to keep warm

Diesel air heater , I have one already in a summer house  and definitely  putting one in the back living room.  About 90 notes to buy and pump out some good heat,  yet extremely  frugal. Easy ish to fit as well

[Section_31]

The whole concept of private ownership of utilities is stupid because by its nature it can't be a competitive marketplace.

 

Capitalism extremists say it creates choice and provides incentives to improve service. 

 

But how does that work with energy and utilities.

 

'United utilities water is shit I'll take my business to Acme utilities as they have better pipes, reservoirs and are cheaper.'

 

Two days later, head of United utilities drops his water prices and orders new water reclamation plants to be built in Birkenhead. All is well with the world.

 

In actual practice it's 'fuck you, pay me' and shareholders buy a new Sea Ray 350.

[Strontium]

2 hours ago, Rico1304 said:

The energy companies still have charges for the meter (whistles) maintenance of the network etc whether you use gas or not.  If you had a leak someone would come out, that kind of stuff has to be paid for.  

 

Reminds me of those people who complain about a cup of coffee costing £2 when water and coffee beans are just a few pence.

[Skidfingers McGonical]

2 hours ago, Section_31 said:

Starmer leading from the back. I can't remember anyone residing the room this badly since I went to the Krazy House in a Ted Baker shirt and a pair of Timberland boat shoes.

 

[dockers_strike]

3 hours ago, Vincent Vega said:

The standing charge is also a scam that needs to be got rid of. I’m charged 47p per day for electricity and 27p per day for gas before I’ve used anything. Apparently the Merseyside area and North Wales have the highest standing charges in the country. As I’ve got an electric oven I hardly use any gas between May and October, but I’m still having to pay approximately £8.10 per month for simply having it available.

Energy customers receiving details of how much their energy bills will rise in April are braced for higher costs – but a big leap in standing charges has already taken many by surprise.

For millions of customers on variable rate tariffs the daily charge for electricity, applied whether you use any power or not, will leap, with some set to pay 80% more when they take effect in spring.

While many expected rising unit prices, driven by the increase in the wholesale cost of gas, they are questioning why other charges have gone up so much. One Observer reader got in touch last week about what she described as an “inexplicable” rise in her electricity standing charge.

 

A customer of SSE (now owned by Ovo), she said the rise in unit price from 20.6p to 28.46p was “reasonable in the scheme of things” but questioned why the standing charge was going up from 24.11p to 43.39p a day.

Her annual bill is set to rise by almost £300, of which the electricity standing charge makes up more than £70. “It’s the price of the energy that has changed, not the system of delivery, so I am struggling to understand how this is justified,” she says. Ovo did not comment.

On social media customers from a wide range of suppliers have posted reported rises of about 20p a day, or £73 a year.

One Twitter user posted that on his mother’s bill the standing charge for electricity had almost doubled, while another complained theirs had gone from £8.43 to £13.43 a month “before I even switch a lightbulb on”.

Another wrote: “I can understand a rise in unit prices, but not the standing charge. Even if we cut our usage we have to pay that.”

Standing charges are a daily fee for gas and electricity customers and are added to your bill regardless of how much energy you use. Ofgem does not set a limit on this part of your bill – it is down to suppliers how they break down unit and standing charge prices below its overall cap.

However, it does make assumptions about how this will be done and, confusingly, publishes average standing charges on its website. These suggest that, from 1 April, direct debit customers will typically pay 45p a day to their electricity provider – up from 25p a day now – and 27p a day for gas – up from 26p now. Those increases add £76.65 a year to an average bill.

 

Ofgem also suggests the highest standing charges are paid by those who have a prepayment meter, or settle their bills by cash and cheque.

For prepayment customers, it suggests electricity standing charges will typically be 50p a day, and gas 37p. For cash and cheque customers it suggests electricity standing charges will be 51p a day and gas 32p.

These are in line with the changes many providers are communicating to customers.

British Gas has told customers its standing charges for electricity will be 45p for those with a direct debit, 50p for prepayment meters and 51p for cash and cheque. Gas standing charges will be 27p, 37p and 32p respectively.

Regulatory changes ordered by Ofgem were already set to add around £30 to each customer’s standing charge

Andrew Enzor, managing consultant at Cornwall Insight

Shell Energy recently warned those living in the east of England that its electricity standing charge was rising from 24.01p to 37.92p a day, or £138 a year. It’s not as big as some, but still represents a 57% rise. The rate for each unit of electricity is up by 40% to 29.24p per kWh.

In comparison, its gas standing charges are set to increase just over 4%, but the cost of each unit consumed is rising by an astonishing 81% from 4.05p to 7.34p per kWh. Other suppliers are imposing similar increases.

Joe Malinowski, founder of price comparison website, TheEnergyShop.com, says electricity standing charges have almost doubled since 1 January 2019, when the Ofgem price cap was introduced. Then, electricity standing charges for customers paying by direct debit were averaging 22.77p a day. On 1 April this is set to rise to 45.34p. Over the same period, he says, gas standing charges have risen 5.4%.

Standing charges cover a range of costs faced by suppliers. Rory Stoves, from comparison website Energyhelpline, says for electricity these include network costs – running and maintaining the system, the supplier of last resort scheme, and things such as the warm home discount.

Stoves says network costs “inevitably go up, especially when inflation is high, as there are rising costs for wages, materials and so on”.

But a far bigger part of the increase is from the “supplier of last resort” scheme – every household is expected to pay the billions that have gone into rescuing customers from failed companies.

Last week, energy analysts at Cornwall Insight said they expected average annual dual-fuel bills could be as high as £2,900 come October.

“Regulatory changes ordered by Ofgem were already set to add around £30 to each customer’s standing charge,” says Andrew Enzor, managing consultant at Cornwall Insight. “Since then, there have been a wave of company failures, with each one requiring a bailout, the cost of which is being shared by all consumers.

 

“We calculate the cost will add a further £35 a year per household. Both of these are added to electricity bills, at a time when households can least afford it.”

 

Stoves says with 29 companies failing in 2021, there is a high cost associated with looking after their customers. “Balances are protected when people are switched to a new supplier, but there is money missing because companies have invested some of it, so it has to be clawed back,” he says. This is added to electricity standing charges, as every home has a supply, unlike gas.

For customers who want to reduce their bills, standing charges are, unfortunately, not something you can do much about. When the energy market is more competitive, there are sometimes tariffs available without standing charges, but they have higher unit prices so it’s only worth switching if you use very little.

Currently, most of us are stuck with our existing provider and the prospect of further rises.

Stoves says the “supplier of last resort” element in the current prices “is based on what Ofgem know so far about the cost – there might be more in the next cap, too”.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2022/mar/06/why-is-my-standing-charge-up-by-80-energy-firms-pile-on-the-agony

[Captain Howdy]

1 hour ago, elvis said:

Diesel air heater , I have one already in a summer house  and definitely  putting one in the back living room.  About 90 notes to buy and pump out some good heat,  yet extremely  frugal. Easy ish to fit as well

I like the look of this. Turning the boiler on isn’t an option, I simply refuse to pay their prices ( even though they’ll probably try and scam me with fake bills, they seem utterly incapable of registering the readings I send them)  so this and my multi stove could see me through. Me and the Mrs are planning a “Good Life” approach to this winter.

[Anubis]

Labour’s Steve Reed has ruled out taking energy back into public ownership in an interview this morning.
 

 

[Arniepie]

1 hour ago, Anubis said:

Labour’s Steve Reed has ruled out taking energy back into public ownership in an interview this morning.
 

 

Tbf the last fella advocated that and was roundly ridiculed.

[elvis]

1 hour ago, Captain Howdy said:

I like the look of this. Turning the boiler on isn’t an option, I simply refuse to pay their prices ( even though they’ll probably try and scam me with fake bills, they seem utterly incapable of registering the readings I send them)  so this and my multi stove could see me through. Me and the Mrs are planning a “Good Life” approach to this winter.

You would regret it mate , theres a Facebook page dedicated to giving advice on the topic , they're easy to fit anyway but they're always happy to help.

[elvis]

39 minutes ago, elvis said:

You would regret it mate , theres a Facebook page dedicated to giving advice on the topic , they're easy to fit anyway but they're always happy to help.

Wouldn't regret it , obviously 

[Bobby Hundreds]

I believe energy, public transport, prisons, health care all the things that you would deem essential in a functioning civilised society should be nationalised or at least the bones of it, important lifeblood of the country not being in profiteers hands, but renationalisation how does that happen ? I can see it with things that are contracted out once the term is finished the government takes over but you can't just take over a company and say "zoink! This is ours" how could you trust that power to any government, the right to just take as they like and then expect people to do deals with it afterwards. There's got to be sensible solutions. 

 

The government needs to begin or increase research and development into creating its own renewable or nuclear options. We cant be held hostage to foreign nations or corporations for our power its ridiculous. For all the right-wing arseholes crying about green energy "why should we when China creates a coal mine a week" because its not just about climate change or pollution, its about being forward thinking, should we be barbaric cunts because other countries are barbaric. Why be arsed its probably too late the planets going to shake us off like shit from a shoe.

[clangers]

7 hours ago, Section_31 said:

Starmer leading from the back. I can't remember anyone residing the room this badly since I went to the Krazy House in a Ted Baker shirt and a pair of Timberland boat shoes.

He's on his annual holiday apparently, it seems with most of the Labour front bench.

[Anubis]