Bingoman
Well-Known Member
Wow that is some price rise
Landlords leaving properties to stand empty can simply turn the electric and gas off and avoid paying the standing charge anyway. If we want to discourage landlords from leaving homes to stand empty, a better way is tax those doing so directly.Nonsense. Standing charges pay for the fixed costs of the distribution network such as metering, cables, pipes etc. These costs are created by you simply being connected.
The alternative of allowing landlords of empty properties to pay nothing while actual consumers have the costs added to their bill in proportion to their usage would be inequitable.
Get a rechargeable hand warmer, the charge lasts for ages, and they work brilliantly for not only warming hands, but by extension, making you feel warmer all over. I wouldn't be without mine.It's my hands and head that gets cold, rather than knees/legs. My study/office is a pretty small room and a 600w oil filled radiator keeps it workable until the dog piles in without shutting the door behind him.
Then why are they going up 100%? Doubled the size of the network? twice the customers as last year?Nonsense. Standing charges pay for the fixed costs of the distribution network such as metering, cables, pipes etc. These costs are created by you simply being connected.
Then why are they going up 100%? Doubled the size of the network? twice the customers as last year?
So fucking what? The cost of failed businesses is being unloaded onto the general public now? A business goes to the wall then shareholders lose their money, that's what being a shareholder is. You take the risks of failure but reap the rewards of success.The electricity standing charge is increasing significantly this year to cover the costs of administering the failed suppliers.
Doesn't make sense. No additional wiring or substations have been put in it's just the cost of gas that had increased.Nonsense. Standing charges pay for the fixed costs of the distribution network such as metering, cables, pipes etc. These costs are created by you simply being connected.
Doesn't make sense. No additional wiring or substations have been put in it's just the cost of gas that had increased.
Energy bills: ‘I got a green deal, so why am I paying eye-watering sums?’
Some Britons on renewable energy deals promising green power face higher bills than standard tariffswww.theguardian.com
I was unsure when I renewed at a fixed rate last year if I wanted one or two years. Bloody happy I took the two now!
Being in a masionette with neighbours on three sides, double glazing, fairly new boiler, etc our gas usage isn't really all that much. It's the 'leccy that kills us. Especially in winter with a dehumidifier (cheap bastard double glazing has no vents in it!) and the tumble dryer (heat pump, but even so...) in use.
In a few months when most of our electric comes from wind and solar with no gas being used for generation our bills should plummet. Somehow I can't see it happening.The breakdown of what contributes to standing charge increases is on the Ofgem website somewhere if you’re really that interested.
OK spread the standing charge cost over a greater figure than mine I just used me as an example for basis of my calculations rather than an recommended figure. If we can't abolish the standing charge altogether then average it out over say 10000KWh per annum (twice mine), I don't want to stick the elderly with higher fuel bills either but I don't mind sticking it to people running weed farms.If you remove standing charges and transfer the cost to unit rates it would help low users, but many poorer people are high users, especially of gas - the elderly and large families in older properties for example. They would be adversely affected.
In a few months when most of our electric comes from wind and solar with no gas being used for generation our bills should plummet. Somehow I can't see it happening.
Not sure they are paying for their electric to start with.OK spread the standing charge cost over a greater figure than mine I just used me as an example for basis of my calculations rather than an recommended figure. If we can't abolish the standing charge altogether then average it out over say 10000KWh per annum (twice mine), I don't want to stick the elderly with higher fuel bills either but I don't mind sticking it to people running weed farms.
Just got a letter from Octopus Energy yesterday. Elec up 50% and Gas up %90. I don't use much energy but for other households I can see that being a major shock.
We have underfloor heating that works off a heat exchanger, copes well with the very cold winters here at a reasonable cost, though never done exact sums.Yup ditto. And that's (electricity) up 50% to 30p from the current 20p, which was already up 50% from the 13p it was a year or two ago. I think.
We've been moving away from gas to all-electric (induction instead of gas hob, heat pump instead of gas boiler), as although gas is cheaper, it can't ever really be green from an emissions pov. This may turn out to be a more expensive shift that we'd budgeted for.
(Though if the heat pump manages close to its performance coefficient of 500% then it should be an effective 6p/kWh of heat produced which isn't bad. Not quite the 2.5p I had in the early calculations! But it is what is is).
Interesting on heat pump. I presume your place is well insulated. Where is the heat pump? What type is it and what's the output (kW and air or water?). COP of 5 is pretty fucking good.Yup ditto. And that's (electricity) up 50% to 30p from the current 20p, which was already up 50% from the 13p it was a year or two ago. I think.
We've been moving away from gas to all-electric (induction instead of gas hob, heat pump instead of gas boiler), as although gas is cheaper, it can't ever really be green from an emissions pov. This may turn out to be a more expensive shift that we'd budgeted for.
(Though if the heat pump manages close to its performance coefficient of 500% then it should be an effective 6p/kWh of heat produced which isn't bad. Not quite the 2.5p I had in the early calculations! But it is what is is).
Interesting on heat pump. I presume your place is well insulated. Where is the heat pump? What type is it and what's the output (kW and air or water?). COP of 5 is pretty fucking good.
Wonder if it’s even possible to get a mass leccy strike going
About 12/13 years ago I was really skint and stopped paying my gas bill. After about a year of increasingly stroppy letters and the occassional home visit to tell me off I finally got a court order through permitting them to gain entry and fit a prepay meter. I rang then up and managed to delay it a couple of times and then said that I wouldn't be in when they came and they'd better watch out for the dogs (I didn't have any dogs). Anyway I was in when they eventually turned up, with a van load of cops, a locksmith, and a professional dog handler. As it happens I'd fibbed and the meter was outside the building, so they changed it pretty easily, but the bloke was quite nice and set the repayments at the minimum which back then was £3.50 a week. The total amount I ended up owing was about £900 I think (they charged me for the dog handler as well the fuckers so it's probably not a good idea to lie about having dogs).
Anyway tl:dr, it takes a long time for them to get their shit together to do anything about arrears, there's lots could be done to resist (blocking entry into homes for example), it probably wouldn't take much for the whole system to fall over and it would have a great deal of public support. So you should definitely organise a mass leccy strike.