David Cameron writes for MSE on his plans to help on energy bills

Former_MSE_Guy

Today the Prime Minister and Energy Secretary have written exclusively on MSE their plans for the energy summit.

Read it here...

David Cameron Exclusive: Our plans to help on energy bills

What do you want said at the summit?

Martin Lewis, MoneySavingExpert.com creator, will attend today's energy summit. Please feedback your ideas and suggestions below, for him to put to the Prime Minister and the Energy Secretary.

From Martin:

"I will only have a short time to speak at the summit – but would love your views to ensure no stone is unturned in the attempt to improve matters for consumers. Please let me know your thoughts below and I will do my best to represent some of those views."

Plus, for the record, this is Martin's comment that has accompanied our press release on the PM's editorial.

"Today's summit can't just be a talking shop. The Prime Minister needs to deliver as millions face desperate annual energy bills of about £1,300 a year.

"Past behaviour from all parties, and the regulator, has shown they don't understand the real world of bills. They need to get more sophisticated. I've lost count of the times I've heard them yell 'switch' when energy companies hike prices. Swathes of consumers are burned as a result, as they move from the frying pan to the fire as their new provider hikes bills too.

"After such an experience, many won't switch again. In fact, the time to compare, switch and save is later, once all companies have increased prices (as they have now) so there's a level playing field and you can see who's truly cheapest."

dori2o

Not one of those measures included reducing current rates which are grossly unfair when compared to wholesale prices.

Abolishing the obvious cartel that is currently in place SHOULD be the starting point.

Lugh_Chronain

Also, is it enough that Cameron and Huhne are trying to clear up the bewildering array of tariffs and special offers provided by energy companies? One of the issues they, and other governments, appear to fail to tackle is the issue of direct debits. Energy companies appear to be the only utilities that charge in the way they do, except for water if you're not metered. Other utility companies charge for what you use and don't take a lump sum via direct debit from your bank/building society unlike the way energy companies do. It's true you can ask to have this reduced but not everyone knows how to go about doing this, they most likely don't know you can. This can't be fair and needs to be addressed as people are loosing out.

Also, some people prefer not to pay by direct debit for this reason, especially the elderly. This may sound foolish to some as you supposedly get a percentage of the cost off your fuel bill if you pay by direct debit though not everyone sees it that way. These people are loosing out unfairly as well.

What doesn't make sense, regardless of who is in power, is why give rebates, winter fuel and cold weather payments when this issue is never tackled?

darkrev

-I'm still in fuel poverty from last wintet so can't change supplier. My house is rented so I had to pay to have it insulated. I have negociated my way through the various tarrifs and I think I have the best deal I can manage under the circumstances. If I was to take the excess credit from my elec account and pay on my gas debt I get penalised with a higher direct debit as I am forced to keep my account in excess Credit under the rules. I wrote to Mr Hulme before he decided it might be worth some votes and got the usual' lazy voter not shopping around , uneducated proletariate reply ' now suddenly he is interested that the energy companys got £110 profit out of an average £150 bill rise ' due to market costs' So glad your going Martin, please do what you can and show em your forum numbers to show that we are not all uneducated lazy shoppers, we are genuinely struggling an risking our health and welfare. There will be even more deaths this wintertime if nothing is done. Esp if -17 becomes the norm. Thanks for trying. ( Hume response letter available on request )

timwilliams

Dear Martin,

Hope you can use this. In blocks of flats, everyone has to agree to get cavity wall insulation put in. Obviously if the flat below doesn't have any, any above it will drop down!

This needs to be organised therefore, and I suggest that unless there is some sort of obligation put on eg ground landlords, then it will take for ever to get the work done.

Tim.

jamesd

"We are determined that everything that can be done will be done to help people bring their energy bills down. "

The main cause of price increases is government policy to subsidise certain forms of power generation. The Prime Minister surely knows that so I have great difficulty in seeing that claim as anything other than an outright lie.

flossy_splodge

:mad:What a joke! How about re-nationalising the utilities we all HAVE to use instead of allowing the drive to line shareholders pockets to be the overriding factor in setting prices and hence profitability.
Any Government COULD help, they choose not to.
Profit before people has long been the name of the game.
If you can address this, Martin, you'll be really achieving progress not just fiddling around at the edges of tariffs as vote catching measures.
Good luck

rogerblack

The standing charge (or first unit rate) means that light users pay more per unit, and that energy saving measures by this group don't impact much on their bill.
Surely one rate for electricity units, into which are rolled all charges would be a fairer approach more consistent with efforts to reduce carbon - those using the most energy would pay the most, those using the least would save.

Sunnyday

Renationalisation is probably the answer as far as i can see, either that or creating a new company that everyone can switch to leaving the current suppliers to go bust.

Let the utilities that are used in this country be owned by it/produced by it.

This needs to be done now to protect against things becoming worse in the future.

We need to be in control of our own utilities and not at the mercy of greedy companies with shareholders grasping at every penny.

The basic utilities necessary for survival should be public owned non profit making companies that plough left over monies into improving things for the future.

SD

alexlyne

1. Low users should pay less, to encourage low use.
2. companies are run by shareholders who demand ridonculous profits.

The two points above are mutually exclusive, so go figure.

supersuzie50

Totally agree, people who use low energy should have low prices. It is so annoying that people on benefits can get cheap energy yet waste it. The more energy they use , the cheaper it is. My 91 year old mother is terrified to put her electric lights on . She is not using her oven because she is terrified of the bills.