Price cap going up in april (53% or extra £693)

[PhevsamHS]

Families will be skipping things like house and contents insurance to help pay their energy bills !.
We all know how this will end up.
There are thousands of people living out of food banks right now, where does the government really think people are getting the money from to pay these ridiculous prices !.
Honestly, I am not politically motivated in any way, but these buggers are not in touch with the real world ?.
Energy prices impact just about everything !.

It is not so much the government as the result of price capping. Also due to all the money printing the value of the pound has decreased. ( this is the government). I believe this shows how price capping can have a detrimental effect as when the cap stops the energy companies try to recover some of the revenue they missed out on during the capping period.

 

[Lovemyev]

It is not so much the government as the result of price capping. Also due to all the money printing the value of the pound has decreased. ( this is the government). I believe this shows how price capping can have a detrimental effect as when the cap stops the energy companies try to recover some of the revenue they missed out on during the capping period.

Although this maybe very true, this changes nothing for somebody on a very limited income trying to sleep at night, worrying about how they balance heating / eating.
This effects all ages groups from young families to the elderly.
Previous governments have been negligent in not making us less reliant on importing of huge gas supply.
Martin Lewis did a brilliant piece on this the other day, covered off the selling off of the energy companies and then having to satisfying its share holders.
A 53% increase in April and I predict another increase of 20% at the next review in October.
Six million people are affected by this increase in April ALONE !.
Shambolic !.

 

[PhevsamHS]

Although this maybe very true, this changes nothing for somebody on a very limited income trying to sleep at night, worrying about how they balance heating / eating.
This effects all ages groups from young families to the elderly.
Previous governments have been negligent in not making us less reliant on importing of huge gas supply.
Martin Lewis did a brilliant piece on this the other day, covered off the selling off of the energy companies and then having to satisfying its share holders.
A 53% increase in April and I predict another increase of 20% at the next review in October.
Six million people are affected by this increase in April ALONE !.
Shambolic !.

 

[PhevsamHS]

I agree that the energy companies should NEVER have been sold off. I accept there will be millions of people affected including my family. What I was stating was price capping does not work and the fact that the government has been printing currency at an alarming rate causing the value of the pound ( money) to fall. So the currency value is far less hence what a note would buy a few years ago will cost you far more now! Hence price raises for everything.

 

[Gomev]

I agree that the energy companies should NEVER have been sold off. I accept there will be millions of people affected including my family. What I was stating was price capping does not work and the fact that the government has been printing currency at an alarming rate causing the value of the pound ( money) to fall. So the currency value is far less hence what a note would buy a few years ago will cost you far more now! Hence price raises for everything.

The pound vs the US$ has been steadily dropping since way way back. In March1972 the rate was 2.64 dollars to the pound, it has fallen steadily with ups and downs along the way to the current level.
Against the Euro we are currently pretty much the same exchange rate we were in 2009.

 

[sido]

When politicians and civil servants have failed to properly fund research and development for the UK to become independent producers of enough energy to at least feed our domestic demand how have they got the nerve to take their pay!
If they were in the private sector their companies would have gone bust and they would all be on the dole. As it is, everyone in the uk is going to have to pay for this, how ever long it takes to put right.

 

[seye]

The pound vs the US$ has been steadily dropping since way way back. In March1972 the rate was 2.64 dollars to the pound, it has fallen steadily with ups and downs along the way to the current level.
Against the Euro we are currently pretty much the same exchange rate we were in 2009.

I believe gas prices are linked to oil prices. I also believe International trade in oil is undertaken in US$

So other currencies don't impact the costs even if both supplier and comsumer are in Europe. Supply and demand will impact cost regardless of where they are globally. Exchange rates impact on how that translates.
Private companies will sell their product where ever they make the most money. Thats not good for us as consumers but is a result of how the sector operates.

I appreciate this may not be a reliable news source, but tells the story

UK gas exports double in a year - even as families face soaring bills

Domestic gas and electricity bills are set to rise by nearly 50 per cent to an average £1,900 this year under plans by regulator Ofgem to raise its cap on prices.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[EVsince2016]

Our key real issues are: -

1 - We have become dependant on outsourcing manufacturing to places like china for goods. As thee economies grow they will consume their own manufacturing as happened with Japan, Hong Kong & Taiwan.
2 - We rely on cheap foreign labour. Brexit ended this!
3 - The top 1% of wealth has increased from 60% to 98% of all assets. That screws the rest of us. A rebalance is required.
4 - Those with money protect their interests not the countries hence holding on to & protecting their mineral, gas, oil, coal assets whatever the cost. Otherwise we would have gone fully renewable decades ago.

Consequences? Supply chain issues, high import costs, labour shortages.

Britain is living on the never never, debt ridden (this is how the top 1% gain 90% of their wealth).

We don't need to revolution or laws or anything, just stop borrowing money to buy stuff you cannot afford or 'need'!!!

 

[seye]

When politicians and civil servants have failed to properly fund research and development for the UK to become independent producers of enough energy to at least feed our domestic demand how have they got the nerve to take their pay!
If they were in the private sector their companies would have gone bust and they would all be on the dole. As it is, everyone in the uk is going to have to pay for this, how ever long it takes to put right.

We dont need that much more new tech. What we have today can meet demand if allowed to. Wind, Solar, Tidal are here now. Mini nuclear next few years. Fusion would be nice and billions are being spent to try and get that to work .

New solutions will be cheeper and more effiecient, but even todays capabilties can do what we need if we embrace them.

Beyond energy production, smart grids are happening. Research into dynamic smart grids, identifiying requirements and how to meet them. Thats joint research from Government and private sector

Additional to that there is vast amount of work going on for efficiency. Any new appliance you buy is more effient that the one you had before. That hasnt happened by acceident. It policy and research to deliver it. As consumers we now expect it as we are mindful of it, thats a reinforcing cycle.

So what kind of additional research are you referring to that isn't being done?

Which areas are you suggesting would go bust if private? All the main energy produce are private, as is the distribution grid, as are all the suppliers.

Private sector are wanting to bridge the gap. Thats where all the renewables are coming from. How many developments have been blocked over the last few decades? Far too many. Who blavked them, well we did via public opinion.
If we learnt to say yes rather than no then maybe we would be in a more sustainable postition

I still hear "I dont want solar panels on my roof because they dont look nice" or "I dont want a windfarm close to me". People are entitled to have that view, as long consequences are accepted

 

[EVsince2016]

My total electric bill for the house and car for the last 3 years since fitting solar is a whopping £233 in total.

We can all choose to change and act!

 

[sido]

Well, where should I start.
let’s talk about the private sector and it’s shareholders who hold there directors to account. So if no profit no bonus but still not sacked necessarily. When the private sector invests it is for profit not for the nation. And the shareholders will be a tiny minority of the population.
the vast amount of work you mention seems to have resulted in increased prices for everything, nothing getting cheaper so what is the benefit of all of this to the population.
As for those not in my back yardy’s, they need to think about the men women and children who are cold because they cannot afford energy prices.
I would not want to argue that successive governments haven‘t been elected by us, my problem is that none of them have delivered affordable energy for us now, it’s fine having a nuclear deterrent which costs billions to not fire or have a two year backlog for cancer surgery or put 20 million people in energy poverty because you haven’t had the foresight to sort it, well come on, how can that be right.
you know, on this forum we can all afford a new electric car, it cheaper to run than an ICE maybe we will have do our bit to help sort this out. At some point real levelling out needs to happen. Perhaps taxing everybody of half of their entire wealth and investing in Uk only design and build and install, would stimulate the economy and enable me to buy a British EV, using British produced elecricity for the benefit of the uk taxpayer.

 

[marcopolomt]

I agree that the energy companies should NEVER have been sold off. I accept there will be millions of people affected including my family. What I was stating was price capping does not work and the fact that the government has been printing currency at an alarming rate causing the value of the pound ( money) to fall. So the currency value is far less hence what a note would buy a few years ago will cost you far more now! Hence price raises for everything.

its not so much energy companies being sold off but the hidden tax that is inflation. governments cannot spend the billions they spent over the last few years without there being inflation. that combined with the reduction of fracking in the usa, and then supply contraction due to covid has then ramped up prices.

what's daft is the lack of energy storage here in the uk. there was no encouragement by gov to continue gas storage, and there doesn't seem to be much incentive for electric storage either (essential bit of infrastructure with renewables). No joined up thinking, as we have elected morons to parliament (all parties) who then abdicated responsibility to either civil servants or the EU.

 

[rpannell]

From my recent experiences based on testing out a few different mobile SIMS.

If you are a BT or Plusnet customer, there are some good SIM only deals, and it's EE network.
However you don't get all the features of the EE network, BT does give you Wi-Fi calling, last time I checked Plusnet didn't.

I tried Voxi which is owned by Vodafone, fantastic value for money £10 for 15Gb, best PAYG deal in my opinion. I found Vodafone 4G speeds pretty good.

Recently moved to EE on a 12-month deal, £10 for 10Gb, good deal if you want EE network and all the features. I think the deal is hidden on the EE site, this is the site I used.

EE 10GB For £10 (12 Month SIM Only): With 5G & 6 Months Apple Music

Slightly off topic but I have found 1pmobile to be the cheapest mobile SIM only deal. It uses the EE networks and includes wifi calling.
Use this link and you will get £5 off the SIM -

UKs cheapest PAYG mobile tariff

1pMobile offers great value with 1p a minute, 1p a text and 1p a MB. Excellent coverage, free SIM and you can keep your existing number.

www.1pmobile.com

 

[EVsince2016]

its not so much energy companies being sold off but the hidden tax that is inflation. governments cannot spend the billions they spent over the last few years without there being inflation. that combined with the reduction of fracking in the usa, and then supply contraction due to covid has then ramped up prices.

what's daft is the lack of energy storage here in the uk. there was no encouragement by gov to continue gas storage, and there doesn't seem to be much incentive for electric storage either (essential bit of infrastructure with renewables). No joined up thinking, as we have elected morons to parliament (all parties) who then abdicated responsibility to either civil servants or the EU.

It is because we sold off the utilities, who were bought by investors who sold off their assets & mortgaged the rest to avoid paying any tax costing us billions of tax revenue annually then running down the assets, including selling off gas storage, land etc for shareholder returns.

 

[m4rmite]

My total electric bill for the house and car for the last 3 years since fitting solar is a whopping £233 in total.

We can all choose to change and act!

What was the outlay of your solar installation.
Add the £233 to that and divide by 3.

 

[EVsince2016]

What was the outlay of your solar installation.
Add the £233 to that and divide by 3.

Over 30% of capital cost covered in 3 years through the FiT/export + lower electric bills + hot water benefit so fully paid off in 10 years.

Note the capital life of the asset is 25 years not 10.

Just to be even more annoying my heating bill since 2010 is zero! RHI grants, solar thermal and Eddi via solar PV. And, that includes the capital cost

 

[marcopolomt]

It is because we sold off the utilities, who were bought by investors who sold off their assets & mortgaged the rest to avoid paying any tax costing us billions of tax revenue annually then running down the assets, including selling off gas storage, land etc for shareholder returns.

not really. I work in the industry and much of what has gone wrong is due to lack of strong government conviction. Nuclear is pretty much essential in a post carbon world but there has been little incentive to invest in more nukes. No incentive to invest in storage, and a discouragement in carbon intensive production. End result is a much greener grid, but with little resilience. The largest gas storage facility could no longer be maintained but there was no encouragement for any replacement. Maybe gov advisors thought we would all have solar powered heat pumps heating our poorly insulated homes by now? Or the wind would reliably blow all the time?

Ultimately government usually provides strategic guidance but private enterprise implements. Exactly the same is going on in ev world. Car firms are now producing great evs but what a complete mess gov made of the infrastructure vs Tesla. Car firms shouldn't really be providing charging infrastructure but I guess Elon already figured how utterly useless gov would be at building any sort of of infrastructure.

Private enterprise can easily be motivated to give us all that we need but it needs guidance from competent government. We haven't had that for over 100 years bar a few exceptions. I would hate the thought of government being my broadband, mobile, supermarket provider. Energy is no different despite the propaganda. If you want to overhaul the grid though it needs to be planned properly and incentivised correctly. Pie in the sky fantasy doesn't work.

 

[weedavemac]

Affordability is key issue - luckily Scotland has 0% loan over 10 years for solar panels and/or battery - which should cover most of the cost. Luckily my Home Energy Report provider has three EVs, solar panels and their partner works with EV battery technology so hoping their recommendations match my limited knowledge - I share your view on batteries, might not quite work for my use case. Also got a four sided roof, facing South, East, etc. Available surface area may be an issue but time will tell

I have seen solar panels put on garage roofs using brackets/frames that give the perfect angle.

 

[sido]

not really. I work in the industry and much of what has gone wrong is due to lack of strong government conviction. Nuclear is pretty much essential in a post carbon world but there has been little incentive to invest in more nukes. No incentive to invest in storage, and a discouragement in carbon intensive production. End result is a much greener grid, but with little resilience. The largest gas storage facility could no longer be maintained but there was no encouragement for any replacement. Maybe gov advisors thought we would all have solar powered heat pumps heating our poorly insulated homes by now? Or the wind would reliably blow all the time?

Ultimately government usually provides strategic guidance but private enterprise implements. Exactly the same is going on in ev world. Car firms are now producing great evs but what a complete mess gov made of the infrastructure vs Tesla. Car firms shouldn't really be providing charging infrastructure but I guess Elon already figured how utterly useless gov would be at building any sort of of infrastructure.

Private enterprise can easily be motivated to give us all that we need but it needs guidance from competent government. We haven't had that for over 100 years bar a few exceptions. I would hate the thought of government being my broadband, mobile, supermarket provider. Energy is no different despite the propaganda. If you want to overhaul the grid though it needs to be planned properly and incentivised correctly. Pie in the sky fantasy doesn't work.

When we have successive governments who do not follow through, the private sector has to take that into account. Just a few memorable Government did not finish properly, Blue streak missile system, Concorde, replacement for observation and surveillance Shackleton aircraft, more recently the reduced HS2 rail project. This makes it very difficult for the private sector to secure investment as funders are also aware of these changes in direction. However, even with this our Champions of Industry have to make more of a success than they have. So many of them have had massive bonus and share options payments simply by having their companies bought out not because they achieved anything. I know it is easy to complain and I have about the Government but surely the directors of all of the main energy companies and utility providers must have seen this coming and if they did, shouldn’t they have done something about it. They haven’t and what they have done has been far to little too late. We, I think are suffering the worst if both worlds we have consistent changing Government and risk averse private sector. When I see Elon Musk success I envy his foresight his market understanding and above all his attitude to risk. Risk should be researched, fully understood, regularly reviewed and managed and definitely not be the reason for doing nothing. It’s the doing nothing that has caused so much damage to our infrastructure and the public’s trust.
I read today that the interest for December on our national debt was 8.1 billion pounds. Inflation has a massive effect on Government cost of borrowing. So we’re are only going South from here without radical change everywhere.
I think I just want to get back to, are there any MG Jokes out there as this subject is so depressing!

 

[Gomev]

n...

Ultimately government usually provides strategic guidance but private enterprise implements. Exactly the same is going on in ev world. Car firms are now producing great evs but what a complete mess gov made of the infrastructure vs Tesla. Car firms shouldn't really be providing charging infrastructure but I guess Elon already figured how utterly useless gov would be at building any sort of of infrastructure.

Private enterprise can easily be motivated to give us all that we need but it needs guidance from competent government. We haven't had that for over 100 years bar a few exceptions. I would hate the thought of government being my broadband, mobile, supermarket provider. Energy is no different despite the propaganda. If you want to overhaul the grid though it needs to be planned properly and incentivised correctly. Pie in the sky fantasy doesn't work.

Did the govt provide the infrastructure for petrol stations ?