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

[rigton70]

Privatisation of public utilities was always the very worst of excessive Tory short-termism and now we are seeing why.

I genuinely don't understand why the public swallow the bullshit on why selling off the family silver like this was ever a good idea. It's perfectly simple - only in markets where there is genuine competition is there an argument for privatisation. So fair enough, break up and sell off Parcel Force or British Telecom. You can even make that argument for rail companies at a push. But privatising energy and water companies should have provoked national outrage at the time. It has done nothing but line the pockets of shareholders and is effectively a tax on the poor who invariably end up paying the most. Even though energy firms have made billions in recent months, Sunak still only added a windfall tax 3 months after everybody else called for it, and even then it looked suspiciously like it was only to deflect from yet another lie or bout of Tory incompetence.

Didn't Labour have a term or 2 or 3 in government to change this.

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

So if the UK has so much gas….why doesn’t the government do something about trapping it in the country…and as you suggest bringing the price down?

Because there are some days where the flows travel the other way. We have interconnectors that work both ways. This efficiency is at least moderating the price increases across the whole of the UK and EU.

 

[nicko31]

Has the zombie government mentioned insulation yet? If not there's going to be a lot more people blocking roads this winter.

I remember a few years back you could be subsidised loft insulation for 3 quid a roll, no more

You’d think this crisis works have spurred them into life start the process in doing something about our leaky housing stock.

It’s pathetic, but from this lot my expectations are very low so I’m not at all surprised

 

[nicko31]

Because Canada think nothing of burning carbons, eating a little into their huge gas resources and polluting the planet.

Canada’s CO2 emissions per capita 15.5 metric tonnes (in 2000 - 16.8 tonnes).

Europe has significant green taxes on domestic bills to fund other energy sources, and is affected by Putin’s waging of war.
UK 5.4 (in 2000 - 12.6)
EU 7.5 (in 2000 - 10.8)

Pretty dirty polluter, especially the tar sands industry for oil production

 

[Weststander]

Pretty dirty polluter, especially the tar sands industry for oil production

I don’t know why Trudeau’s Canada don’t also get mentioned when China and India get (rightly) slagged off for their CO2 emissions?

 

[Gazwag]

I'm probably being stupid but does it mean a massive 6 bedroom house with 10 people living in it can use as much energy as they like and be capped at £4,200, while a small 2 bedroom house with 2 people living in could pay the same ?

 

[Super Steve Earle]

£4200 pa seems a massive jump. I have a 3 bed house and pay £129pm, so around £1500 pa. That's double what I used to pay on my fixed rates. I'm currently almost 1m in credit. I can only assume I'm a very frugal user compared to an average couple.

 

[maffew]

I'm probably being stupid but does it mean a massive 6 bedroom house with 10 people living in it can use as much energy as they like and be capped at £4,200, while a small 2 bedroom house with 2 people living in could pay the same ?

price cap isnt the best word for it, basically it's what the bill would be for an average household. it's the price per unit that suppliers are allowed to charge/standing charge that are capped not the total bill amount. So the main issue is the wholesale price they pay to the energy companies is going through the roof. thus all the failed suppliers, they couldn't charge the consumer what they were paying. So in a big house with 10 people using as much energy as they wished would have far higher bills than the 4300 price "cap". I think that's about right anyway

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Yes massively concerned. I’m a single parent and I’m already down to one meal a day, that’s without any heating on. I always make sure my kids eat well, are clean and are clothed. I really don’t know how I can manage. Found myself searching for food banks this morning.


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Sorry to hear that. Poor acknowledgement, I appreciate, but some sort of reply is . . . . . .

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

£4200 pa seems a massive jump. I have a 3 bed house and pay £129pm, so around £1500 pa. That's double what I used to pay on my fixed rates. I'm currently almost 1m in credit. I can only assume I'm a very frugal user compared to an average couple.

One million what? Typos, I'd wager.

In seriousness, this whole business is a racket, and I'm sure somehow johnson is getting a semillon out of it.

 

[beorhthelm]

I'm probably being stupid but does it mean a massive 6 bedroom house with 10 people living in it can use as much energy as they like and be capped at £4,200, while a small 2 bedroom house with 2 people living in could pay the same ?

£4200 pa seems a massive jump. I have a 3 bed house and pay £129pm, so around £1500 pa. That's double what I used to pay on my fixed rates. I'm currently almost 1m in credit. I can only assume I'm a very frugal user compared to an average couple.

the cap is mis-named, its a limit on price rise allowed by the regulator, previously ~50%. the number being thrown around is based on the elusive average household. if you're living in a one bed flat you'll not be paying 4k, if living in a 10 mansion you'll be paying considerably more. the new speculated price, source of this thread, is a new calculation applied to model pricing structure.

 

[blue-afro-man]

Sorry to hear that. Poor acknowledgement, I appreciate, but some sort of reply is . . . . . .

Thanks HWT. A year ago I was fine. God knows where we’ll be in a year’s time.


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[Super Steve Earle]

One million what? Typos, I'd wager.

In seriousness, this whole business is a racket, and I'm sure somehow johnson is getting a semillon out of it.

View attachment 150738

No £ sign, so 1 month in credit, not £1m, although that would be even better!

 

[nicko31]

I don’t know why Trudeau’s Canada don’t also get mentioned when China and India get (rightly) slagged off for their CO2 emissions?

Agree, despite Trudeau's progressive image Canada is really in the same basket as Australia on the environment.

 

[Simster]

Didn't Labour have a term or 2 or 3 in government to change this.

They did, and as far as I'm concerned they should have done so.

The problem is that it costs billions to buy back private companies and as I was lamenting in my original post, there wasn't enough public outrage to convince Labour that spending that money on renationalising was a vote winner. Nevertheless, we probably wouldn't be facing energy bills of £4,200 per household (up from £1,300) if energy was nationalised.

 

[Gazwag]

price cap isnt the best word for it, basically it's what the bill would be for an average household. it's the price per unit that suppliers are allowed to charge/standing charge that are capped not the total bill amount. So the main issue is the wholesale price they pay to the energy companies is going through the roof. thus all the failed suppliers, they couldn't charge the consumer what they were paying. So in a big house with 10 people using as much energy as they wished would have far higher bills than the 4300 price "cap". I think that's about right anyway

the cap is mis-named, its a limit on price rise allowed by the regulator, previously ~50%. the number being thrown around is based on the elusive average household. if you're living in a one bed flat you'll not be paying 4k, if living in a 10 mansion you'll be paying considerably more. the new speculated price, source of this thread, is a new calculation applied to model pricing structure.

Ah I see, so the media are basically terrifying the public by telling everybody "the average house hold will be paying £4,200 a year in January". I dread to think how many old people will die of the cold this winter because of media reporting.

 

[WATFORD zero]

Ah I see, so the media are basically terrifying the public by telling everybody "the average house hold will be paying £4,200 a year in January". I dread to think how many old people will die of the cold this winter because of media reporting.

Yep, because if the media didn't report it, I doubt people would notice their bills soaring, try and plan for the future and people definitely wouldn't die of the cold

 

[rippleman]

We can't overlook the fact that Ofgem is allowing these price hikes and it is within their remit to tell the energy companies that there are to be no more increases. Part of Ofgem's mission statement is:-

We work to protect energy consumers, especially vulnerable people, by ensuring they are treated fairly and benefit from a cleaner, greener environment.

They are NOT protecting energy customers they are protecting the energy companies. Not the big players like Shell, BP & British Gas who are making billions in profits but the smaller companies that Ofgem themselves allowed to enter the market without proper infrastructure or cash reserves. Clearly these smaller companies couldn't, or didn't know how, to use the futures market to hedge against increases in the wholesale market.

Ofgem could put a stop to further hikes today. Yes, smaller companies would be forced out of the market as happened a year ago. But the earth kept spinning and nobody died. If Ofgem, with the backing of its Tory government masters, continues on this path, people will die.

 

[nicko31]

Pretty outrageous Johnson / Sunak and Truss can't get around the table and at least collectively agree there will definitely be help for the most needy this winter.

The talk of £4200 will causing a huge level on anxiety for this on the edge.

 

[beorhthelm]

We can't overlook the fact that Ofgem is allowing these price hikes and it is within their remit to tell the energy companies that there are to be no more increases.

the rises are being controlled by Ofgem so that they are not even higher, UK gas wholesale prices have risen 3x in a year. we could have no increase then deal with larger companies going bust/bailed out. oil&gas producers are not in their remit and they cant tell the markets to stop trading gas higher.