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

amintram

magyar wrote: »

Sorry that's just not true, it's pure spin. They are a stock market listed company, still have shareholders and any company that doesn't make shareholder return a priority won't be around for long.

Of course they have to make a return, however they realise that the best way of making a profit and a return, is to deliver good, sustainable service, which in turn creates the profit. Too many other companies focus on the profit first and service/value second IMO.

magyar

Rikki wrote: »

Not everyone has access to the internet for the best deals.

What can be done to help those people that are stuck on the standard tariffs?

No-one is stuck on the standard tariffs, you can always phone up one of the suppliers or comparison sites.

What I would do is to deliver this leaflet from Consumer Focus to every household in the country.
http://www.consumerfocus.org.uk/files/2010/01/Switching.pdf

Clearly lists both web sites and phone numbers.

magyar

amintram wrote: »

Of course they have to make a return, however they realise that the best way of making a profit and a return, is to deliver good, sustainable service, which in turn creates the profit. Too many other companies focus on the profit first and service/value second IMO.

Of course, and I don't disagree. I think the confusion came about because 'profits' and 'shareholder return' are different things.

However I would challenge that Good Energy are fundamentally different to any of the Big 6. Of they money they invest, 100% of it goes into renewable projects, but in practice that's pretty much the same for the Big 6 at the moment anyway.

I'm sure their customer service is fine, being a smaller, newer company they probably have less complex billing systems and so they can probably do it a bit better.

jamesd

magyar wrote: »

a green tariff (rip off, but don't get me started on that!)

Look on those as a voluntary tax, just like buying lottery tickets.

Unless you see someone short of money doing it. Then you should really point out that they should be letting those who are more able to pay do the subsidising, while they get the cheapest possible energy for themselves.

amintram wrote: »

I'm with Good Energy.

Good Energy isn't supplying good energy. It's a major builder of on land wind farms, with all the environmental harm that comes from them. It's a supplier that should be avoided by those who don't want the countryside looking like a pin cushion from all the windmills. Fully 20% of their supply comes from the on land Delabole wind farm in Cornwall, part of the 40% total from on land wind farms, with no offshore wind. And the company is committed to more on land wind farm development. It's more a company to boycott than support.

dunloadin

On the smart meter front....the specs for the rollout were supposed to be released by the government in July, never happened fully so all the companys are in limbo with engineers twiddling their thumbs (some have been laid off). So dont expect much from the meeting today on the government side of things....hell, that will require someone to make a decision!

Dont expect much from OFGEN either....

magyar

jamesd wrote: »

Look on those as a voluntary tax, just like buying lottery tickets.

Unless you see someone short of money doing it. Then you should really point out that they should be letting those who are more able to pay do the subsidising, while they get the cheapest possible energy for themselves.

I had a friend who was with Ecotricity (even worse than Good Energy) and I persuaded him that if he really wanted to help, he should switch to his cheapest supplier and give the different to these people:

http://www.renewable-world.org/

The Koru Foundation - damn good charity.

jamesd

magyar wrote: »

Smart meters do more than just let people see what they're using

It also lets those with access to real time usage data see what appliances you're using, which isn't something I consider desirable.

Things like smart cars or turning off low priority appliances remotely could be very useful if the privacy risks can be dealt with. I don't see much reason to have a fridge cooling at the same time as people are turning on electric kettles just after a popular program on TV ends, say.

jamesd

magyar wrote: »

I had a friend who was with Ecotricity (even worse than Good Energy) and I persuaded him that if he really wanted to help, he should switch to his cheapest supplier and give the different to these people:

http://www.renewable-world.org/

The Koru Foundation - damn good charity.

That's a good idea - thanks for the good work! Nothing quite like trying to get generation for new users produced in good ways, to deal with the growth in generation without making things worse.

tgroom57

Just a quickie as you have (probably) already left.

The simplest and possibly fairest thing to do would b to reduce VAT to as low as possible (and then some) on all gas and electric. Even if only for the duration of GMT (as opposed to BST) to recognise that electric lighting is not a luxury.

Long term, GB needs to create and retain control of it's own electricity generation. We must have new GB nuclear power plants to replace the one's that are 'retiring' soon. Yes, I would gladly work in one and live nearby.

PS I disapprove of smart meters.

Totality

VAT on gas and electric is 5% not 20%, isn't it?