My electricity bill has just tripled: how about yours? Alternative suppliers?
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MickiQ
In My Defence I was left Unsupervised
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.
Expecting poorer people to pay a sizable sum up front without direct benefit (or any leccy) because we are worried that some landlords might save some money strikes me as far more inequitable. Putting the standing charge on the actual cost seems more equitable to me since they are getting some electric from their first penny not from their 1633rd one. (better if it was just scrapped though)
As for the infrastructure argument I really don't buy that, my house was built in the 1990's, I'm pretty certain that the capital cost of the direct infrastructure to my house has been long paid off so why should I pay directly for infrastructure elsewhere?
Let it come out of British Gas's profits, investment is tax deductable anyway.
Tesco's don't add an infrastructure charge to my grocery bill to pay for the cost of building the store so why should the utility companies get away with it?
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.
Chilli.s
mingling jets and statuettes
Then why are they going up 100%? Doubled the size of the network? twice the customers as last year?
platinumsage
HaveMyPassword123
The electricity standing charge is increasing significantly this year to cover the costs of administering the failed suppliers.
MickiQ
In My Defence I was left Unsupervised
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.
There was loads of money sunk into these 'smoke and mirrors' suppliers let those that did it foot the bill.
Going on my own figures my electric bill is going to come to £115.16 per month (ouch) but I can actually afford that the Q household is comfortably well off. For me the standing charge is 11.8% of the cost, averaged out across my 5002KWh it comes to me to an average cost of 30.9p per KWh.
Let's take an example of someone who can afford say £60 a month and can keep to that figure. For them the Standing Charge is 22.7% of the total bill so they use (or struggle by) on 2014KWh so they pay an average of 35.74p per KWh. Not only do I get my electric cheaper than someone who can only afford to spend half what I do but I don't have to skimp (as much) either. Whereas if there was no Standing Charge and they were paying the same average rate as me of 30.9p then £60 would buy them 2330KWh , 16% more energy for the same cost. The poorer you are and the less spare cash you have to spend after the Standing Charge is taken, the higher the average price you will pay. I'm struggling to see either the justification for this or any fairness in it.
platinumsage
HaveMyPassword123
The cost of failed suppliers couldn’t come from the shareholders as the companies concerned had no money left.
I‘m not arguing for the current privatised system, just trying to explain the billing rationale
Standing charges have always been in place afaik, and were the norm in the state-owned era before competition saw some suppliers offer zero standing charge tariffs.
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.
I think you‘re conflating the issue of energy affordability in general with a specific billing system that isn’t the root of all evil. Certainly your claim standing charges are “Legalized Theft cunningly disguised as Legalized Extortion” came over as bit FOTLy.
I‘m not arguing for the current privatised system, just trying to explain the billing rationale
Standing charges have always been in place afaik, and were the norm in the state-owned era before competition saw some suppliers offer zero standing charge tariffs.
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.
I think you‘re conflating the issue of energy affordability in general with a specific billing system that isn’t the root of all evil. Certainly your claim standing charges are “Legalized Theft cunningly disguised as Legalized Extortion” came over as bit FOTLy.
WouldBe
Dislicksick
Doesn't make sense. No additional wiring or substations have been put in it's just the cost of gas that had increased.
platinumsage
HaveMyPassword123
Doesn't make sense. No additional wiring or substations have been put in it's just the cost of gas that had increased.
The breakdown of what contributes to standing charge increases is on the Ofgem website somewhere if you’re really that interested.
I'm expecting a shockingly large bill next month. My supplier went bust and I've been transferred to British Gas. For some reason it seemed like a good idea to go quarterly for the moment. Pretty sure I was in credit with the previous supplier. Have cancelled DD. Probably got some mail wingeing about that to read.
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 with Bristol Energy on their green tarif. They've had some... issues, and were taken over by some other nnorthern council owned company, which in turn went bust.
I'd prefer to be on a green tarif from a putting your money where your mouth is PoV but will have to see what BG stick me on.
Yuwipi Woman
Whack-A-Mole Queen
WouldBe
Dislicksick
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.
MickiQ
In My Defence I was left Unsupervised
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.
platinumsage
HaveMyPassword123
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 price cap accounts for backdated wholesale costs. So from April the higher prices will reflect the costs from last August to February, and the rising costs now will be paid for from October.
Blame Theresa May, Ed Milliband, John Major etc for how needlessly complicated it all is.
WouldBe
Dislicksick
Not sure they are paying for their electric to start with.
DJWrongspeed
radio eros
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.
JimW
支那暗杀团
Made me check the cost per kwh here in rural Beijing and we pay the equivalent of six pence! Had to change the gas bottle we use for cooking yesterday and that had gone up about twenty per cent, from CNY110 to CNY 140 for a 30 kilo bottle. Locals get a subsidy on that and they used to let me have that price too but the depot noticed so I have to pay incomer's full whack now.
prunus
Tick tock.
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).
JimW
支那暗杀团
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.
two sheds
Least noticed poster 2007
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.
prunus
Tick tock.
Oh yes insulated to buggery (or it will be when it's finished anyway), with the majority of the heat being put into low temp underfloor (with 12 inches of insulation underneath) for maximum efficiency. Large thermal mass (stone floors) as well, so will have the option of turning off for peak hours an hour or two at a time without making much difference to the ambient. Will do domestic hw and a few (low-temp) radiators too. Apparently! Those are the calculations, we shall see. Could be an expensive experiment if we have to supplement...
It's called an ecoforest geo, ground source, 5-22kW output (variable). Claims COP of 5, but that will be under ideal conditions, which of course don't exist in the real world. I'll be very happy if it manages 3.5.
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.
two sheds
Least noticed poster 2007
Nice setup prunus 
. Mine's 1850s house that I've insulated as well as I can within limitations. I don't want to mess with the garden or radiators (which don't really do much anyway) so am looking at air-air, which are also loads cheaper - I'm hoping for under a grand. I'll take a look at repayment times this autumn for how much eleccy prices have inflated assuming around COP of 3. It only really needs heating for 4 months of the year.
. Mine's 1850s house that I've insulated as well as I can within limitations. I don't want to mess with the garden or radiators (which don't really do much anyway) so am looking at air-air, which are also loads cheaper - I'm hoping for under a grand. I'll take a look at repayment times this autumn for how much eleccy prices have inflated assuming around COP of 3. It only really needs heating for 4 months of the year.
prunus
Tick tock.
Unless you’ve got a smart meter, in which case I believe they can disconnect you remotely…?
muscovyduck
Good IT skills and food hygiene competent
British Gas seem to be accepting they've messed up my bill and seem up for adjusting it down. Cautiously optimistic
dessiato
🇪🇸 my spirit is crying for leaving
Just to reiterate and get feedback from you all. If I put the radiators (gas fired) on the minimum, then open up the fireplaces in the two lounges, keep the water on the on demand boiler, there’s little more I can do. I’ll make sure the draughts are stopped, and all the unused rooms are closed up.
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