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

dori2o

We were di8scussing this issue at work today and came up with the following.

* Renationalise ALL Utilities and Fuel.
* Limit the number of Tarrifs a company can have, say 3. (Standard, Fixed, E7). Remove the unfair pricing policies for pre-pay meters.
* Only allow price changes to be made once/twice a year. - Use the average wholesale/development/infrasructure costs to determine whether the price increases or decreases at this point. There must be a direct link between these costs and prices.
* Force energy companies to provide their calculations when increasing/decreasing prices.
* Set a maximum price increase level, any company that increases prices above this level must provide evidence to justify their increase.
* Abolish the unfair Direct Debit/Online discounts.
* Abolish the unfair dual Tier tarrifs
* Bring in changes that mean when the temperature falls below a certain level, say -1degree, energy becomes cheaper. Much like the fuel allowance given to those on benefits.

vision2009

Just "Waffle" and Spin from the masters at it, the CONDEMS.

magyar

All sounds lovely but:

dori2o wrote: »

We were di8scussing this issue at work today and came up with the following.

* Renationalise ALL Utilities and Fuel. That would cost the country about £100bn. We can't afford it
* Limit the number of Tarrifs a company can have, say 3. (Standard, Fixed, E7). Remove the unfair pricing policies for pre-pay meters.Agree with the first bit, but why should people with good credit ratings subsidise those who don't?
* Only allow price changes to be made once/twice a year. - Use the average wholesale/development/infrasructure costs to determine whether the price increases or decreases at this point. There must be a direct link between these costs and prices.This would be virtually impossible and MUCH more expensive for everyone. I could go into why but it would take days
* Force energy companies to provide their calculations when increasing/decreasing prices.This would be counter-productive and probably illegal. You'd be asking them to divulge price information to the public and therefore their competitors.
* Set a maximum price increase level, any company that increases prices above this level must provide evidence to justify their increase.Again, impossible for the reason above.
* Abolish the unfair Direct Debit/Online discounts.Why unfair? They have my money earlier, why shouldn't I get a discount? And why can't I get a discount for saving the company money?
* Abolish the unfair dual Tier tariffs Again, why unfair?
* Bring in changes that mean when the temperature falls below a certain level, say -1degree, energy becomes cheaper. Much like the fuel allowance given to those on benefits.So, even though the energy will be more expensive for the utility, they're expected to pass it on cheaper? Who pays the difference?

welshee

magyar wrote: »

All sounds lovely but:

Agree with everything you say.
But with the amount of posts you have made i cannot see how you are not possibly not on benefits !:T

Totality

Martin's on Sky News right now...

1connect

:T Complicated tariffs are a clever marketing ploy entirely designed to deceive the customer. THEY MUST BE REMOVED and futhermore NOT REPLACED BY ADMINISTRATION OR OTHER FALSE CHARGES TO COMPENSATE THEIR LOSS SUCH AS HAPPENS IN THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY

Individuals and companies profiteering directly from the clever hiking of prices and or the furures trading market are working directly AGAINST the consumer to rise costs. THIS MUST BE OUTLAWED :- INDIVIDUALS CAUGHT DOING THIS SHOULD BE SUBJECT TO CRIMINAL LAW AND RECOVERY :- CORPORATIONS DOING THIS SHOULD BE SUBJECT TO FINES AND HEAVY WINDFALL TAXATION TO STAMP IT OUT

ALL ECONOMY 7 CUSTOMERS SHOULD HAVE A TARIFF COMPARISON ON THEIR BILLS - MANY PAY MORE THAN DISCOUNTED TARIFFS.

MSE_Guy wrote: »

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."

meggsy

Unfortunately a breathless Chris Huhne left the meeting with the words - SWITCH, no change there then :mad:

magyar

welshee wrote: »

Agree with everything you say.
But with the amount of posts you have made i cannot see how you are not possibly not on benefits !:T

I am on holiday, not benefits

lynzpower

meggsy wrote: »

Unfortunately a breathless Chris Huhne left the meeting with the words - SWITCH, no change there then :mad:

Its that famous "talk to the general public like they are small children" thing so many members of this government do:

So patronising.

KorkyKat

Oh Dear! All those big wigs and little wigs and the outcome? Nothing more than P.R. Froth.

Huhne's contribution? We should all switch. Well I never! Fancy that! What a remarkable revelation from one of the closet Tories. I bet everybody on this site didn't know they could switch. I hope he's told Consumer Focus and Ofgem.

Anybody with half a brain would set up a company called Energy U.K. It would have an external examining board to overview all its practices. Members would come from all walks of life and from all those bodies with knowledge such as "Which", "Consumer Focus" along with a few expert energy analysts. The shareholders would be U.K. taxpayers but they wouldn't be called shareholders they would be called 'partners' like those at John Lewis. It would, out of necessity and history be one step removed from the grubby fingers of government. With the right amount of skills and expertise it would be quite successful. I cannot see why not, if a bunch of German and French companies can rip us off I can't see why we can't rip ourselves off.

As for Labour. They had their chance and ignored it - too busy with the war machine and constantly anointing Bliar and his rich friends.