Energy price rises

[Onelife]

Trawling through the begging letters (todays mail) I noticed one from British Gas which had that ominous look about it, sure enough the dark clouds were about to get a whole lot darker...

British Gas...“Why we are putting your prices up?”

Hmm! Let me think ....maybe it’s because you are greedy Bas*ards?

British Gas standard Gas price will increase by 8.6% and electricity by 10.8% from 23rd November 2013.
The Government response is to say “it’s disappointing” Well that isn’t good enough....Now I don’t know about you but I didn’t think capitalism was supposed to work like this. I don’t begrudge any company making a fair profit, but screwing its customers to achieve this seems to be the wrong way to go about it. This leaves me thinking why have the Government allowed this to get totally out of their control?

The only thing we know is that the big six energy firms are making vast profits, not sure how much because they won’t disclose this information ...but enough to give one CEO a 2 million pound bonus.

Wrap up warm it could be a very cold winter for some.

Regards

OL

[GillD46]

Fortunately last week we fixed with our current provider ( Scottish Power) until 2017 for an extra £69 per annum. Just intime me thinks.

[Manoverboard]

Use less ... and teach em a lesson while saving yourself some money.

[Onelife]

I’m alright "Jack", sorry I meant Mob, I’ve got an open fire

[Onelife]

Fortunately last week we fixed with our current provider ( Scottish Power) until 2017 for an extra £69 per annum. Just intime me thinks.

Hi Gill,

I’ve tried to do the same thing this afternoon but can’t get through to British Gas due to the long phone queues.... no doubt all trying to do the same thing.

Regards

Keith

[Manoverboard]

We have a wood burner to keep warm plus oil for the heating and / or hot water if and when required ... lubbly jubbly

ps ... up yours, Mr Gas Man

pps ... no not you OL, I meant the ' British Gas ' man.

[Kendhni]

There is another thread discussing something similar. These price rises have been known about for well over a month now with various sites advising people start looking to switch - see what deals are out there (although it may now be too late). It was also inevitable that following Millibands comments at the Labour party and on Watchdog that large price rises were, and probably will continue to be put in place until the next election (not sure whether it was Milliband deliberately rocking the boat knowing prices would go up or if he was incredibly naive at making his comments).

For over a decade now we have been watching prices continually rising on utility bills ... and no matter what any political leader says the future is that these are likely to continue .. it is not a case of 'if' price rises are going to happen it is a case of how big they will be. This is in part down to a total lack of energy infrastructure being put in place for many years now .. too much NIMYBism, too much GREEN and not enough 'well what happens if we do nothing' (which is pretty much what we have done).

Overall though the best advice for most people (M&T excepted ) is to use less ... forget the 'reduce, reuse, recycle' message ... it always was a poor and misleading message ... the big message everybody should be considering is 'reduce, reduce, reduce'.

[GillD46]

We have a log burner too, it supplements the heating plus gives us peace of mind in case of power/gas cuts. And it's solovely and cosy in winter

[Capt Black]

I have a collection of now unfashionable woollen jumpers. Looks like they'll coming out of storage.

[davecttr]

Turn your thermostat down by 1 degree and save 10% of the gas bill

Adjust your timer to switch on later in the morning and switch off earlier in the evening.

Buy a vest!

[Onelife]

There is another thread discussing something similar. These price rises have been known about for well over a month now with various sites advising people start looking to switch - see what deals are out there (although it may now be too late). It was also inevitable that following Millibands comments at the Labour party and on Watchdog that large price rises were, and probably will continue to be put in place until the next election (not sure whether it was Milliband deliberately rocking the boat knowing prices would go up or if he was incredibly naive at making his comments).

For over a decade now we have been watching prices continually rising on utility bills ... and no matter what any political leader says the future is that these are likely to continue .. it is not a case of 'if' price rises are going to happen it is a case of how big they will be. This is in part down to a total lack of energy infrastructure being put in place for many years now .. too much NIMYBism, too much GREEN and not enough 'well what happens if we do nothing' (which is pretty much what we have done)

Overall though the best advice for most people (M&T excepted ) is to use less ... forget the 'reduce, reuse, recycle' message ... it always was a poor and misleading message ... the big message everybody should be considering is 'reduce, reduce, reduce'.

And somewhere within the highlighted paragraph lies the truth Ken...I wouldn’t pour water on anything the green party has achieved over recent years but the truth is their echo energy producing ideas only amount to a fraction of what will be required in the coming years. We need to look at the alternatives and as much as we fear Nuclear power I support the Governments program of building more Nuclear power stations.

Alternatives, such as wind/ wave and our ever dwindling oil reserves will see us all fumbling around in the dark if we are not carful.

I don’t know how feasible it would be but I would like to see a part nationalised nuclear power program so we won’t “hopefully” find ourselves in the same position we find ourselves in now, having to endure these extortionate utility price hikes.

Regards

Keith

[Kendhni]

The Green brigade in the UK has done itself no favours and is a b it of a laughing stock further afield. In France the Green community has realised that something is needed and through discussion and consultation has managed to agree a nuclear power program. In the UK it looks now like the Chinese will be investing heavily into a nuclear program which may provide the power but may not provide as much investment for UK companies or as many jobs for UK workers as it should.

The problem with nationalisation is that such industries become a dumping ground for the unemployed and a good source for the (overpaid) 'jobs for the boys' brigade .. prices may appear to be lower but, and it is something many people do not consider, we will have to pay higher taxes to fund uncompetitive and uneconomic commercial ventures. Having said that, I sometimes wonder if it would not have been best to keep the underpinning infrastructure of utility, telecomms, rail etc. in public hands.

[david63]

I get a distinct feeling that there is a lot of "spin" and a lack of information about the energy companies.

There is all this talk of "price fixing" but as yet I have not heard of how this is being done - and if there is proof of any price fixing then the OFT should be looking into it as it is illegal. I can understand that all of the companies will be being charged more for their wholesale fuel at about the same time as they will all be buying it around the same time - but that is not price fixing that is the market force. I also understand that they buy on the futures market - but again that is not price fixing.

Not that it is necessarily any consolation to any of us but I was reading not so long ago that fuel prices in the UK were amongst, if not, the cheapest in Europe.

Also what happened to our North Sea gas?

[davecttr]

Does this lack of transparency from the utility companies come because they are effectively selling their product to themselves and inflating the price in the process.

Say you are selling gas. You have have a gas 'procurement' part of the company and a 'retail' part of the company. The first part aquires the gas by any means and sells it internally to the retail side of the company. So they say prices have to increase because the cost of supply has gone up but that might be just because they have increased their own internal price, making more profit in the process.

Or am i crazy?

I am increasingly thinking that the utilities and transport are just too important to leave to the vagaries and profiteering of the open market. I do see it as difficult to have a national energy policy that works if the nation can't control it.

I suppose for fairness we should privatise all the roads as well

[sumdumbloke]

Does this lack of transparency from the utility companies come because they are effectively selling their product to themselves and inflating the price in the process.

Say you are selling gas. You have have a gas 'procurement' part of the company and a 'retail' part of the company. The first part aquires the gas by any means and sells it internally to the retail side of the company. So they say prices have to increase because the cost of supply has gone up but that might be just because they have increased their own internal price, making more profit in the process.

Or am i crazy?

I am increasingly thinking that the utilities and transport are just too important to leave to the vagaries and profiteering of the open market. I do see it as difficult to have a national energy policy that works if the nation can't control it.

I suppose for fairness we should privatise all the roads as well

Absolutely right, Dave.

The big 6 say they only make 5% or 6% margin which compares well with Germany, France etc, but what they don't say, and what is different in the case of the UK, is that they also generate/drill/recover energy. They make their money at both ends of the process, and they NEVER declare the wholesale/generating margins.

It's never transparent. If you look at DECC (D of energy) website, it forecasts falling wholesale gas prices as new fields come on line. Do you imagine prices will fall?

Markets do generally work, but sometimes they fail, and sometimes they're just too important to rely on the same economic model as baked beans.

[Dark Knight]

put a jumper on and stop moaning

[sumdumbloke]

put a jumper on and stop moaning

[davecttr]

put a jumper on and stop moaning

No, a vest and moaning generates heat so keeps you warm.

Now people need to keep warm. My old mother does and they have just slammed her monthly gas bill up to over £90 and now there is this increase on top. She lives alone but so do I and my gas bill is currently £38 per month.

[Kendhni]

dave, is it possible your mother accrued some arrears which means the double whammy of putting the price up to cover actual usage plus increases to recoup arrears.

It is important that people ensure their meter is read and the utility company informed of actual readings.

[GillD46]

And of course it does depend on how many hours one's heating is actually on. In winter ours is on from early morning until bed time, because I don't work, so am here quite a lot.

[Stephen]

Two one ton bags filled with hardwood logs plus a couple of small stacks of apple and copper beach logs currently resident on one side of our double garage ready for the open fire.

You can't beat it.

[Onelife]

Two one ton bags filled with hardwood logs plus a couple of small stacks of apple and copper beach logs currently resident on one side of our double garage ready for the open fire.

You can't beat it.

Hi Buddy

I had our delivery of logs yesterday....went with a different supplier this year as I managed to shave £30 pounds off the price...not surprisingly I got a third less logs

Can’t say I’m too disappointed as the logs are well seasoned and of a much better quality than the previous ones...the only down side is that being all hardwood they don’t chop up easily for kindling...but hey that’s my wife’s problem

Regards

Keith

[GillD46]

We actually found we used fewer logs last year so still have loads left. Since we moved we have far less room to store them, so shan't need to restock until the other side of Christmas.

[Stephen]

Two one ton bags filled with hardwood logs plus a couple of small stacks of apple and copper beach logs currently resident on one side of our double garage ready for the open fire.

You can't beat it.

Hi Buddy

I had our delivery of logs yesterday....went with a different supplier this year as I managed to shave £30 pounds off the price...not surprisingly I got a third less logs

Can’t say I’m too disappointed as the logs are well seasoned and of a much better quality than the previous ones...the only down side is that being all hardwood they don’t chop up easily for kindling...but hey that’s my wife’s problem

Regards

Keith

We brought the two one ton bags back in August from last years supplier. We got them early to make sure we got some. Like yourself, they are very good quality, and if you leave it too late to purchase, like now, there is a good chance you would not get any as he has regular commercial customers as well as domestic. The beach and apple were cut down by my own fair hand (and a new bow saw) from the dragons (mother in laws) garden

[Silver_Shiney]

For those of you with log burners... there used to be a product that compressed sodden newspapers into bricks. They took ages to dry out but, once they were ready, you'd put them in your log burner and they'd last for ages. I don't know if it's still being marketed, but it was a great way getting rid of old newspapers and providing free heat.