MSE News: Government to announce energy crackdown

rogerblack

Was a scheme where you could invest with others in a small solar plant (say 100kW) in a nearby field, and got appropriate FIT for that.
(~15p/kW or so).
Could install your own micro-solar on a shed roof yourself, or free-standing in the garden.
And critically - got the same FIT if it was 4kW or 4GW. (modulo per-area maximums if the grid can't cope)

Renewable heat incentives are another hideously bad idea.
It makes the market so expensive that anyone can't come in with cheap solutions.

undaunted

Talk is cheap!

The first thing they'd need to do is get Ofgem & various other Civil Servants more interested in the Consumer than their own views & prejudices.

backfoot

undaunted wrote: »

Talk is cheap!

The first thing they'd need to do is get Ofgem & various other Civil Servants more interested in the Consumer than their own views & prejudices.

How is something like that measured?

Consumerist

It seems to me that Ofgem have been pretty slow off the mark. They have already declared that the energy market is competitive when most of rest of us regard that finding as very questionable.

Recently they have, belatedly, come to the conclusion that the energy companies may have been running rings around them, as the "big six" energy prices move up almost in unison, and only now will they call in accountants to check the books.

When writing to the energy companies they address them as colleagues - all a bit too cosy for my liking.

It is not clear to me whether Ofgem's role is to excuse the excesses of the enegy companies or represent the interests of the consumer.

I ask the question: is Ofgem fit for purpose?

tagq2

backfoot wrote: »

How is something like that measured?

Election of parts of the executive as the legislative? Other democracies involve election of chiefs of XYZ, though one could go further than just that. In my experience, some (but not all!) senior civil servants have the habit of acting over a long period neither civilly nor as servants because they are untouchable.

grahamc2003

Consumerist wrote: »

I ask the question: is Ofgem fit for purpose?

Well, ofgen is certainly fit for the governments purposes.

Remember that this is the 'greenest' government ever. Part of 'green' ideology is to have high energy prices to curb demand. So the trick which Ofgem tries to fulfil is to back rising energy prices while giving the appearence of keeping them low. Hence the totally non-competitive oligopoly Ofgem declares 'competitive', where the nine monthly rises decalred to be 10% translate to 30% rises in everyones bills, and Ofgem doesn't bat an eyelid.

oldtractor

I am pretending I live in a big castle instead of a 2 up and 2 down. No way could i heat a castle,so I need to wear wrist warmers,hat,scarf,woolly pullover have a rug and hot water bottle. I am pretending there is no oil in the tank. I use hot water at least twice,hand wash clothes on the bath for example,put the plug in the bath when showering and wash clothes in that water.

backfoot

tagq2 wrote: »

Election of parts of the executive as the legislative? Other democracies involve election of chiefs of XYZ, though one could go further than just that. In my experience, some (but not all!) senior civil servants have the habit of acting over a long period neither civilly nor as servants because they are untouchable.

I take your point very much. It wasn't quite the question I asked which was how do you know whether an individual or organisation is doing a good job? Or what their prejudices or opinions regarding consumer representation are.

I haven't been a fan of Ofgem or other regulatory bodies but this thread and the volatile reaction to what 'may be positive customer proposals' just seemed a bit knee jerk. I know why, but shouldn't we at least see what comes out before we jump on the lets bash em all bandwagon.

cing0

Good only if the switching cashback sites bring down the payment dates from 3-4 months currently.

green1970

Still sounds very 'toothless' to me, we should all get together, focus on the worst of these companies and give them the shock of their lives by all moving away at the same time unless they stop the price fixing. All these companies could have reduced their prices this year and yet still make an obscene profit - they're pretty much printing money at our expense. Why would they stop unless we force them to?