Energy Prices

[SasaS]

Heating? In mid-September?

[KMD7]

38 minutes ago, SasaS said:

Heating? In mid-September?

It's cold enough here in Ireland tonight after being really warm earlier today so I can imagine Scotland being a lot colder.

[Mook]

I sat on the couch under a duvet last night, I wasn't feeling great though. 

 

That duvet will be getting a lot of action this winter & not the kind I want it to get either. The heating won't be going on unless the kids are staying over.

[Rico1304]

The big quilt is on, repeat the big quilt is on. 

[Fugitive]

3 minutes ago, Mook said:

I sat on the couch under a duvet last night, I wasn't feeling great though. 

 

That duvet will be getting a lot of action this winter & not the kind I want it to get either. The heating won't be going on unless the kids are staying over.

It was proper cold last night, winter is coming.

[SasaS]

37 minutes ago, KMD7 said:

It's cold enough here in Ireland tonight after being really warm earlier today so I can imagine Scotland being a lot colder.

It says it is 12 degrees right now in Edinburgh.

[johnsusername]

What's this about wholesale gas prices plummeting? 

[SasaS]

On Friday, wholesale gas traded at roughly 185 euros—about the same in dollars—a megawatt-hour. That is

three times as high as a year ago, and more than double the level at the start of June, when Moscow began to throttle supplies through Nord Stream. Still, it is down more than 45% from the record closing high on Aug. 26 and back to levels from late July.

 

Electricity prices have almost halved from their peak. “It looks like the situation is stabilizing,” said David den Hollander, co-founder of Dutch power-trading company DC Energy Trading, pointing to near-full gas stores in central Europe, the closure of energy-guzzling smelters and fertilizer plants, and the installation of import terminals in the Netherlands and elsewhere for liquefied natural gas.

 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/vladimir-putins-energy-war-with-europe-seems-to-falter-11663523925?mod=series_rusukrainenato

[Rico1304]

If only we had somewhere to store it. 

[dockers_strike]

Bunch of cunts.

 

The energy watchdog has threatened to intervene if energy companies turn away new customers after it emerged the country’s biggest suppliers were deterring households from switching providers.

 

Those searching for a new deal online have been met with a blanket ban from energy giants British Gas, EDF, E.ON, Ovo Energy and Scottish Power.

 

When The Telegraph attempted to get a new quote from the companies’ websites, all five blocked the application – blaming high energy prices and the volatile energy market.

 

British Gas and Ovo Energy explicitly advised new customers would be better off sticking with their current supplier. Energy companies can offer different standing and unit charges for variable rate tariffs, although all must comply with the regulator’s annual price cap.

Ofgem, the energy regulator, mandates suppliers must accept new customers, although there is no explicit requirement that households must be able to sign up online.

 

However, Ofgem does require suppliers to ensure customers can easily compare tariffs. Ovo Energy was the only supplier to suggest prospective customers contact the company on the phone to discuss tariffs after blocking online applications.

 

An Ofgem spokesman said: “We expect licensed energy suppliers to take on new customers when approached by them, and to ensure their connections are appropriately metered.  

 

“Where this is not being done, we will engage with suppliers to ensure compliance with this requirement.”

 

The energy market has been in flux this year as competitive fixed-rate tariffs disappeared from the market amid soaring wholesale prices.

Meanwhile the price cap, which dictates the maximum amount suppliers can charge customers on their variable rate tariffs, has surged.

 

It was scheduled to rise to £3,549 for the average household on a default tariff in October, before the Government stepped in earlier this month to guarantee it would stay at £2,500 for the next two years.

Those who signed up to fixed-rate deals will also have their bills automatically cut, but customers are likely to be better off paying an exit fee to move onto a standard variable tariff.

 

A spokesperson for EDF told The Telegraph households could switch to the supplier over the phone, although this information is not provided on its website.

 

An E.ON spokesman said: “With energy prices at a record high, it is recommended that customers stay with their existing supplier. However, customers can sign up to receive an alert as soon as we are in a position to offer competitive fixed price tariffs for new customers or can call us to discuss their tariff.”

 

British Gas, Ovo Energy and Scottish Power did not respond to requests for comment.

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/bills-and-utilities/gas-electric/customers-left-cold-energy-suppliers-reject-new-applications/

[Rico1304]

You really don’t understand how this all works do you?  

[dockers_strike]

Bunch of cunts, jacking up DDs when they knew Government intervention had been announced.

 

Energy firms have begun to cut households’ direct debits following Liz Truss’s energy price guarantee announcement earlier this month.

 

From October 1, the Prime Minister’s landmark policy will see the average household energy bill frozen at £2,500 a year.

 

Some customers who pay via direct debit have already seen their bills reduced as a result, as providers adjust payment plans to reflect the new policy.

 

EDF Energy had previously increased the direct debits of some customers at the start of the month – before any indication the Government would intervene.

 

At the time, the average household was on course to pay £3,459 a year under the price cap set by the energy regulator Ofgem.

Following Ms Truss’s announcement last week, however, EDF has begun reassessing accounts whose direct debits were increased.

 

A spokesman said the issue would only affect those who were due a review of their direct debits in the first week of September. This is likely to be thousands of customers, though EDF could not provide a figure.

 

“We have identified these accounts and are in the process of reviewing these to correct their direct debits in line with the new energy price guarantee announcement, which we aim to have done before 1st October,” he added.

 

Customers of OVO Energy took to social media to complain that the supplier had asked them to raise their direct debit last month, only to lower them following Ms Truss's announcement.

 

A statement on the company's page reads: “We are quickly working through the Government’s measures to understand how this impacts all of our customers and will share more information as soon as possible.”

OVO did not respond to further requests for comment. 

 

Customers of OVO Energy took to social media to complain that the supplier had asked them to raise their direct debit last month, only to lower them following Ms Truss's announcement. 

 

A statement on the company's page reads: "We are quickly working through the Government’s measures to understand how this impacts all of our customers and will share more information as soon as possible." OVO did not respond to further requests for comment. 

 

Other providers have yet to adjust households’ direct debits in light of the guarantee. Shell Energy said customers could expect to receive details “in the coming weeks”, while EON said letters were still due to be sent out.

Octopus, British Gas and Scottish Power did not respond to requests for comment.

 

Households typically overpay for their energy in the summer months as a means of building up credit with their supplier ahead of the winter when their usage is higher, allowing them to spread the cost evenly throughout the year. 

 

Citizens Advice urged customers who are confused about their direct debit increases to ask their supplier directly.

 

Ofgem has previously urged providers to take “urgent action” after a review found “a range of weaknesses or failings in the way they charge customers' direct debits”.

 

The results of the review, published in July, found five suppliers had "moderate or severe" weaknesses.

 

More than seven million households had their direct debits increased between February and April 2022, with 500,000 experiencing an increase of more than 100pc.

 

As part of the price guarantee, the average household bill will be held at £2,500, an increase of 27pc from the previous price cap, which limits the rate at which providers can charge customers on a standard variable tariff.

Households can expect to pay 40pc more for their gas usage and 7pc more for their electricity. Overall, household bills will still be 96pc higher than they were last year.

 

The Government is expected to announce further support today for small businesses who are not protected by the existing price cap.

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/bills-and-utilities/gas-electric/edf-cuts-direct-debits-thousands-customers/

[Rico1304]

Once again demonstrating you know nothing about this. That article again gives a confusing message about the cap.  

[Captain Willard]

Our bill has actually gone down very slightly which is a miracle as every winter Mrs Willard has a day or so where she complains she’s freezing cold, cranks the heating up to at least 28 then about an hour or so later has a hormonal outburst shouting  “this house is like a fucking sauna” and throws wide open the patio doors so we heat up the whole of Surrey. I await this day every year. 

[Bobby Hundreds]

Just got a new boiler fitted I may switch it on Christmas day as a treat.

[YorkshireRed]

I haven’t turned my old boiler on in fifteen years.

 

In other news, the heating isn’t going on in our house until the beast from the east comes knocking. 

[sir roger]

On 19/09/2022 at 21:06, Rico1304 said:

The big quilt is on, repeat the big quilt is on. 

I thought you had lost Louie's number ?

[Rico1304]

15 minutes ago, sir roger said:

I thought you had lost Louie's number ?

Tattooed on 

[sir roger]

I daren't ask where

[Trumo]

7 hours ago, Rico1304 said:

That article again gives a confusing message about the cap.  

 

One of my biggest bugbears this. Article after article, headline after headline, news story after news story quotes the cap as a total figure the average household with a variable tariff will have to pay. Currently this is stated as £2500 per year. Even Martin Lewis is guilty of this.

 

It should have been made clear from the get-go that the cap is on the actual unit rate (and maybe the standing charge), so the more you use, the more you pay. People just don't seem to understand that, and constantly talking about energy costs for the customer in terms of total cost per month/year once gets us further away from increasing understanding at consumer level.

 

And yet other cost of living examples go by the unit price. When we talk about fuel prices, you might see something about the cost to fill up a tank for the average motorist, but more often than not, it's the actual pence per litre that is the talking point.

 

Like with gas and electricity, the amount used will vary by user, so a headline annual cost makes no sense at all.

 

By the by, my current fixed tariff ends on 1st October. As I have smart meters, I can use my actual consumption against the government-quoted cap unit rates and standing charges to get an idea of my costs going forward. My supplier hasn't yet officially confirmed to me what their new capped rate will be, but I'm currently paying £117/month for dual fuel and should still have a small amount of credit come 1st October. My calculations suggest I'll be paying about £270/month under the new cap. I suppose I'll find out how close I am once they finally let me know.

[dockers_strike]

3 minutes ago, Trumo said:

 

One of my biggest bugbears this. Article after article, headline after headline, news story after news story quotes the cap as a total figure the average household with a variable tariff will have to pay. Currently this is stated as £2500 per year. Even Martin Lewis is guilty of this.

 

It should have been made clear from the get-go that the cap is on the actual unit rate (and maybe the standing charge), so the more you use, the more you pay. People just don't seem to understand that, and constantly talking about energy costs for the customer in terms of total cost per month/year once gets us further away from increasing understanding at consumer level.

 

And yet other cost of living examples go by the unit price. When we talk about fuel prices, you might see something about the cost to fill up a tank for the average motorist, but more often than not, it's the actual pence per litre that is the talking point.

 

Like with gas and electricity, the amount used will vary by user, so a headline annual cost makes no sense at all.

 

By the by, my current fixed tariff ends on 1st October. As I have smart meters, I can use my actual consumption against the government-quoted cap unit rates and standing charges to get an idea of my costs going forward. My supplier hasn't yet officially confirmed to me what their new capped rate will be, but I'm currently paying £117/month for dual fuel and should still have a small amount of credit come 1st October. My calculations suggest I'll be paying about £270/month under the new cap. I suppose I'll find out how close I am once they finally let me know.

I agree about the semantics of 'the price cap.' But even Octopus Energy says in an email to customers such as me 'The Government have announced a 2 year Energy Price Guarantee, capping the increase in prices to £2,500 for a typical home.'

 

That's their bolding by the way not mine. Clearly energy suppliers are perpetuating the misunderstanding.

[Rico1304]

41 minutes ago, Trumo said:

 

One of my biggest bugbears this. Article after article, headline after headline, news story after news story quotes the cap as a total figure the average household with a variable tariff will have to pay. Currently this is stated as £2500 per year. Even Martin Lewis is guilty of this.

 

It should have been made clear from the get-go that the cap is on the actual unit rate (and maybe the standing charge), so the more you use, the more you pay. People just don't seem to understand that, and constantly talking about energy costs for the customer in terms of total cost per month/year once gets us further away from increasing understanding at consumer level.

 

And yet other cost of living examples go by the unit price. When we talk about fuel prices, you might see something about the cost to fill up a tank for the average motorist, but more often than not, it's the actual pence per litre that is the talking point.

 

Like with gas and electricity, the amount used will vary by user, so a headline annual cost makes no sense at all.

 

By the by, my current fixed tariff ends on 1st October. As I have smart meters, I can use my actual consumption against the government-quoted cap unit rates and standing charges to get an idea of my costs going forward. My supplier hasn't yet officially confirmed to me what their new capped rate will be, but I'm currently paying £117/month for dual fuel and should still have a small amount of credit come 1st October. My calculations suggest I'll be paying about £270/month under the new cap. I suppose I'll find out how close I am once they finally let me know.

The effect will be that people use more, which will cost the government more and that in turn costs the people more. 
 

Now the policy (no matter how shit) has been announced the government should be pushing massively on the messaging around reduction in consumption.  

[Megadrive Man]

1 minute ago, Rico1304 said:

The effect will be that people use more, which will cost the government more and that in turn costs the people more. 

I've genuinely heard a number of people say that if the price cap is set at 2.5k then does that mean that they should just leave the heating on all day to get their moneys worth?!

[Moo]

16 minutes ago, Rico1304 said:

The effect will be that people use more, which will cost the government more and that in turn costs the people more. 
 

Now the policy (no matter how shit) has been announced the government should be pushing massively on the messaging around reduction in consumption.  

Will they use more?  Most people's bills will still go up.  And if you can afford not to be arsed about the cost of your bills, or are on a cheap fix, why would you use more? For the sake of it?

[Rico1304]

1 minute ago, Moo said:

Will they use more?  Most people's bills will still go up.  And if you can afford not to be arsed about the cost of your bills, or are on a cheap fix, why would you use more? For the sake of it?

They’ll use more because they’ll think a cap means a maximum they’ll have to pay. If I told you your bar bill was going to be capped at £100 would you stop at £100 or carry on knowing you wouldn’t have to pay more. It’s like a bottomless brunch. 
 

Remember we are talking about the general public here.