70% gas price rise

dipsy

you might want to check, but in our "smokeless" area we are not allowed to burn wood......

JonnieHACK

OK so forget all the talk about the past, forget all the explanations about WHY we are in this mess, does anyone have some advice on what to do to tackle the problem? What are we all doing in our own homes to help keep costs down? Are we all leaving british gas?

My supplier is Scottish Power. When I signed up my DD was £56 P.C.M (Dual Fuel) and in three months its risen to £91.50 P.C.M, I'm guesing this is going to keep rising with out a CAP.

AARRGGHHH!!!!! :mad: What do I do????? Financially this is killing me and my family.

IvanOpinion

I am looking to solve 2 problems in one here ... does anybody know anywhere to get a child burning stove?

Reduce the number of people -> reduces the population -> reduces the number of animals needed to support that person -> reduces the amount of CO2 (and methane) ... win-win ... can anybody see any downside to this?

Ivan

Antispam

I am looking at a MP burning stove to get rid of the little parasites. I will take the John Lewis list off them and use it for myself

IvanOpinion wrote: »

I am looking to solve 2 problems in one here ... does anybody know anywhere to get a child burning stove?
Ivan

penrhyn

JonnieHACK wrote: »

OK so forget all the talk about the past, forget all the explanations about WHY we are in this mess, does anyone have some advice on what to do to tackle the problem? What are we all doing in our own homes to help keep costs down? Are we all leaving british gas?

My supplier is Scottish Power. When I signed up my DD was £56 P.C.M (Dual Fuel) and in three months its risen to £91.50 P.C.M, I'm guesing this is going to keep rising with out a CAP.

AARRGGHHH!!!!! :mad: What do I do????? Financially this is killing me and my family.

Last heating season I increased the loft insulation to about 10inches, did some draftproofing and turned the room stat down to 19 degrees.
This year I shall be mostly wearing my outdoor clothes indoors using a hot water bottle and turning the room stat down to 18degrees.
Roll on global warming it will reduce my gas bill.

Mazio_2

I think that insulation has to be considered before you can start to calculate running costs of heating , because the longer you can retain the heat the less will be required to maintain temp in your house.
So I would suggest looking at this and checking any schemes in your area, the return on most insulation (except double glazing) should be within a few years or months in some instances so very cost effective for now.

Remember before deciding on a costly new system there is enough oil / gas and coal reserves for years the problem is demand at the moment outstrips supply and the obvious problems in the main oil producing countries, this could change in the near future although I dont hold out that prices will fall.

alared

This story about a 70% increase in fuel prices is deliberately generated (npi) by B Gas as a smokescreen for their up and coming 40% hike.
If people are expecting a 70% increase (over time) and only a 40% one occurs this is designed to get a reaction "well it could have been a lot worse"
Meanwhile BG continues to make their £600 million a year profit by fleecing the public.

Cardew

MORPH3US wrote: »

All this stuff about wholesale prices of gas and electricity going up got me thinking....

If people are a lot more conscious of energy efficiency and using less gas / elec, could it not be the case that the prices are going up only because the companies have to make more money per unit of gas/elec to maintain their high profits....

I.e. (example, not reality)

If gas costs 15p per unit and BG make 2p per unit on that then BG make £200 profit on 10,000 units sold....

However if people are using only 6000 units because they are trying to help the environment etc then they only make £120 profit... their shareholders and bosses obviously wouldn't be happy about that and so they have to put the prices up to make a bigger margin on the lower levels of consumption to make the same huge profits...???

And this "wholesale prices are increasing" stuff (whilst partly true) is just a front to maintain their profits and fat wages / dividends...?

I have no love for the fat cats of industry and the huge profits they make. However we really must get this in proportion.

This is an interesting quote:

Was British Gas ripping off its customers?

Arguably – but no more than any other supplier. It cut prices during the latter half of last year, sparking a price war that benefited many consumers. Joe Malinowski, founder of price comparison website EnergyShop.com, said: “Operating profit per customer account at British Gas came in at £35.60 for the year – £33.90 in the first half and only £2.40 in the second. British Gas’s decision to lead the price-cutting last year, as well as offering the cheapest tariff for most of 2007, meant their second-half profits were virtually wiped out.”

That is for one of their best ever years(2007) in 2006 it was just 20% of that figur and before that they made a loss.

So even if all the companies made zero profit, it wouldn't have a huge impact on our prices.

We sadly live in an age of huge increases in world energy prices.

lilac_lady

Hot water bottles, calor gas heaters, thick socks, fingerless gloves, heating one room only, wearing a wooly hat indoors -we're all going to be Steptoes.

Beancounter

alared wrote: »

This story about a 70% increase in fuel prices is deliberately generated (npi) by B Gas as a smokescreen for their up and coming 40% hike.
If people are expecting a 70% increase (over time) and only a 40% one occurs this is designed to get a reaction "well it could have been a lot worse"
Meanwhile BG continues to make their £600 million a year profit by fleecing the public.

That was my thought exactly! They have been taking spin lessons off New Labour I think! I am however, glad I did cap my gas and electric last week, pity it is only until next October though!