[News] Energy bills to top £4200 at the start of next year

[Justice]

I’d urge everyone to really check how their water / heating systems are programmed. So many I know have them set to come on for way longer than needed. Even we’ve dropped the water down to 30 mins morning & evening and it’s been enough for showers, washing up etc. Even so far it’s helped usage drop

It shouldn’t matter the tank stat would kick in regardless off the timer setting.

 

[beorhthelm]

I’d urge everyone to really check how their water / heating systems are programmed. So many I know have them set to come on for way longer than needed. Even we’ve dropped the water down to 30 mins morning & evening and it’s been enough for showers, washing up etc. Even so far it’s helped usage drop

very sensible advice. a lot of system, especially electric are on all the time or long periods, so just heating water up continuously

 

[Blue3]

We have given up our season tickets this year partly to help with the rising cost of living

 

[GT49er]

It's worrying. As an OAP, topped up with a small work pension, I've been rubbing along OK. Don't do holidays amd I'm reasonably frugal (though I do enjoy my beer!) but trebling my gas and electric bill will tip that balance, and I'll be likely to be topping up my monthly income from my savings, rather than (occasionally) the other way round.
I can proobably turn the thermostat down a bit more, but the older I get this will become less and less a viable and safe option. I only heat one or two rooms in the house anyway. It's going to hit a lot of people a lot worse than it will hit me though.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Energy bills to top £4200 at the start of next year

Pretty much the level at which widespread civil disobedience kicks in, I'd have thought. And rightly so. Hmgov needs to tax those obscene energy company profits within an inch of their life else suffer the fully deserved backlash

 

[beorhthelm]

The bit that I don’t understand is the government put a Levi on the oil and gas industries which it gave to us not directly but via our energy supplier to pay part of our increased energy bill, is it me or does that not make sense

Person A gives five pounds to person B who gives it back to person A

would it have been easier just to put a cap on the profit, which effectively is what France is doing by nationalising there energy companies so they can stop the profiteering and keep increased to just 4% while ours are 53% and rising

the energy companies and the oil/gas companies are not the same. SSE generates electricity, buys gas from BP (there's wholesaler markets in between too). France has differernt setup dominated by nuclear and had to nationalise the energy producer to make that cap work, otherwise they'd have gone bust. most other governments (along with UK) have provided mix of subsidies to consumers or paid to energy companies to lower bills. doesnt help the underlying price of gas and electricity, which is because of the market imbalance across europe.

 

[dejavuatbtn]

This... surely the progressive way is smaller standing charges and other costs incorporated into the usage charges?

Yes, agreed. I had a family member on a card gas meter who couldn’t afford to buy gas and didn’t use any for two years thinking he was saving money. Problem was the standing charges just built up silently behind the scenes - so when he finally succumbed to needing gas the balance was so huge that for every £10 he spent on gas, £9 was paying off the arrears. It must be an issue for thousands of people for electric or gas, or both.
Truss’s idea of reducing NI isn’t going to help pensioners at all. Utility provision in the country needs radical reform.

 

[Pavilionaire]

I think people might be able to reduce their energy usage by maybe 20-25% if they are careful, but the net price hike will still be massive. That plus rising interest rates and the knock-on effect for mortgage and rent costs will force people to cut back on "luxuries".

I feel sorry for those business that have somehow managed to get through Covid only to be shafted by the energy price rises, either directly or indirectly. It will be especially hard for pubs and restaurants, theme parks, travel companies, and I can see car dealerships suffering too.

 

[Dibdab]

We really are getting to the point where the line needs to be drawn and all the people need to take a stand and show this is unacceptable. I am lucky enough to not have to worry at the moment but I will gladly stand shoulder to shoulder with any reasonable action as we are at the thin end of the wedge. The energy companies are making record profits, with gas whole-sale prices forecast to drop, there is literally no need for these prices. This is nothing more than an exercise to deliberately drive people to the brink.

 

[beorhthelm]

Energy bills to top £4200 at the start of next year

Pretty much the level at which widespread civil disobedience kicks in, I'd have thought. And rightly so. Hmgov needs to tax those obscene energy company profits within an inch of their life else suffer the fully deserved backlash

some companies will make money from the market rate across the world, concentrated in their profits reported here. there's an argument to tax them more (some already pay double corp tax duties on North sea oil), if we accept the consequences of reduced investment, closing business or moving corporate activity elsewhere. Shell is moving half their corporation from Netherlands to UK to stop paying extra taxes there, so this isnt a theoretical option. will this tax include the wind producers making larger profits too? bottom line is taxes wont bring down the price of gas or electricity, just make people feel better.

 

[blue-afro-man]

Thanks guys for your comments. I’m a proud hard working independent parent. I was ok financially until this all started. Saw my gas/electricity go from £65 pcm to £195. Food £150 pcm to £250. Diesel £100 pcm to £180. Plus all the increases in absolutely everything else. Just crippling


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

Thanks guys for your comments. I’m a proud hard working independent parent. I was ok financially until this all started. Saw my gas/electricity go from £65 pcm to £195. Food £150 pcm to £250. Diesel £100 pcm to £180. Plus all the increases in absolutely everything else. Just crippling


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Is that gas/electricity price rise on a direct debit and was it unilaterally changed by your provider ? If so, you should check it against your actual usage and be careful with your consumption. There is a suspicion that some companies are deliberately building customer credits as a cushion against bad debt elsewhere. Our dd is now a lot less than their recommended amount and we still keep building credit. The most I have allowed the dd to rise the past few months is 1 pound as they told me their computer systems would allow that.

 

[blue-afro-man]

Is that gas/electricity price rise on a direct debit and was it unilaterally changed by your provider ? If so, you should check it against your actual usage and be careful with your consumption. There is a suspicion that some companies are deliberately building customer credits as a cushion against bad debt elsewhere. Our dd is now a lot less than their recommended amount and we still keep building credit. The most I have allowed it to rise the past few months is 1 pound as they told me their computer systems would a self that.

Yes it’s against use. It was set when we first moved in at £65, presumably to get the business. We are very careful, believe me, two teenagers though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Mellor 3 Ward 4]

How anyone can say they're not concerned is beyond me.

Add your gas/electric to your council tax and you could be talking of between £7k and £8k combined for just two bills.

That's before you eat, run a car, water/broadband etc.....

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

some companies will make money from the market rate across the world, concentrated in their profits reported here. there's an argument to tax them more (some already pay double corp tax duties on North sea oil), if we accept the consequences of reduced investment, closing business or moving corporate activity elsewhere. Shell is moving half their corporation from Netherlands to UK to stop paying extra taxes there, so this isnt a theoretical option. will this tax include the wind producers making larger profits too? bottom line is taxes wont bring down the price of gas or electricity, just make people feel better.

Not really. People would see it on the bottom line of their energy bill. Brucie Bonus would be it might stave off the burgeoning civil disobedience movement re energy bills. Takes a LOT to p1ss off the British people en masse, but the politicians disregard that scenario at their peril

 

[Marshy]

Have to be honest there is not a lot more i can cut back on.

My only indulgence now is the Albion with my boy, and I'm not prepared to give that up for anything.

Its not going to be pleasant. Renting sucks.

Im going to have to rent out my spare room if its too much, something i really dont want to do.

 

[happypig]

This... surely the progressive way is smaller standing charges and other costs incorporated into the usage charges?

A better way is to band energy prices, so the first X units is cheap then it gets progressively more expensive the more you use

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Have to be honest there is not a lot more i can cut back on.

My only indulgence now is the Albion with my boy, and I'm not prepared to give that up for anything.

Its not going to be pleasant. Renting sucks.

Im going to have to rent out my spare room if its too much, something i really dont want to do.

Fair play for that, tho reckon you might be in a massive minority there as regards real world priorities. Whichever way you slice it and dice it, watching the Albion in the EPL is a far from inexpensive leisure activity when it comes down to it. Buying a NOWTV Day Pass at £11 a pop or whatever wouldn't make you or your boy any less of an Albion fan

 

[Westdene Seagull]

I’ve just checked my past bills. The stat you quoted about your electricity standing charge seems quite dramatic. Ours went up by a similar amount but the 28 days at 22.38p a day equates to £6.27 in Feb/March and 31 days at 45.31 p a day in May/June came to £14.05. It’s a serious situation but people shouldn’t think the standing charge issue makes lower energy consumption a pointless effort. We can and should save energy where possible.

The standing charge is an utter rip off. I don't pay a standing charge to ensure Tescos has it's infrastructure in place. I don't pay a service charge to my ISP for putting fibre in the ground. I don't pay a service charge to my local petrol station to provide the pump infrastructure. I don't pay my mobile provider a service charge to install new masts. All these providers charge it within the cost of their product. It is the energy providers infrastructure - THEY should pay for it - via the product charge.

Then the water companies have the cheek to put in hosepipe bans because they haven't used the service charge THEY charge to put in the infrastructure to store enough winter water. I say nationalise all of them.

 

[Marshy]

Fair play for that, tho reckon you might be in a massive minority there as regards real world priorities. Whichever way you slice it and dice it, watching the Albion in the EPL is a far from inexpensive leisure activity when it comes down to it. Buying a NOWTV Day Pass at £11 a pop or whatever wouldn't make you or your boy any less of a fan

I hear that and realise people are worse off, its a family event, my 2 boys, 1 who pays for his own ticket, my brother and Dad, Its the only time we all come together as it were in a shared love.

Need that NHS pay rise to come through sharpish.....