Price Increases - Any More on the Way?

DecentLivingWage

Just to say they seem to have promised not to raise their prices this winter... hope this helps someone... but wondering if they are just more expensive anyway/

hubb

I'm on EDF but not sure if how long it's fixed. Hope thy don't go the same way as BG.

macman

hubb wrote: »

I'm on EDF but not sure if how long it's fixed. Hope thy don't go the same way as BG.

All the other 4 will now increase.

jalexa

bob_bank_spanker wrote: »

my grandmother lives in Germany, if you think it's bad here, try a normal (-10 is normal) winter there.

Just curious. Any info about insulation standards in Germany?

bob_bank_spanker

jalexa wrote: »

Just curious. Any info about insulation standards in Germany?

I'm no engineer, but as a guess I would say it's almost certainly better over there. Most things are in that regard, they still appreciate manufacturing and engineering!

Ypaymore

DecentLivingWage wrote: »

Just to say they seem to have promised not to raise their prices this winter... hope this helps someone... but wondering if they are just more expensive anyway/

They just put their prices up in September 2012,and promised to freeze prices this winter for existing customers, whatever happens to energy market.

As for the main suppliers still to announce.

"Fellow big six provider Scottish Power, when asked today whether it plans to raise rises, said: "We constantly review our pricing structure."

EDF said: "We keep our prices under constant review.

Eon has pledged to hold prices this year, but that gives it licence to raise them immediately on 1 January."

Source : http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/utilities/2012/10/npower-announces-gas-and-electricity-price-hikes

hubb

I remember about 4 years ago there was talk of big price rises and the fact that we should all fix before Winter set it. I fixed mine and nothing happened. In fact al the prices went down and I was stuck with a higher rate for the privilege of having it fixed. Even Mr Lewis here was advising to fix (no fault of his of course) Just be careful the same Isn't happening again.

MillicentBystander

macman wrote: »

The facts behind the headlines are that BG made less than £30 per customer. £345m profit on a customer base of 12.6m. Their actual profit margin is about 4.5%. If you had a small business turning over £100,000 pa, would you find it reasonable if your profit of £4,500pa was called 'obscene'?
But of course screaming 'massive profit' headlines makes for cheap and lazy journalism.
How exactly do you think our energy needs for the next few years are to be supplied if investors cannot make a reasonable return?

But of course contained within Centrica is a gas exploration/excavation/wholesaling arm which you surprisingly omitted from your post. When wholesale prices are high that makes a shed load of money and BG makes 'less'. And vice versa. They basically can't really lose, can they? I can't blame the poster for being suspicious given the spin in your posts.

PS are those 12.6 million customers actual individual customers? I genuinely don't know.

victor2

hubb wrote: »

I remember about 4 years ago there was talk of big price rises and the fact that we should all fix before Winter set it. I fixed mine and nothing happened. In fact al the prices went down and I was stuck with a higher rate for the privilege of having it fixed. Even Mr Lewis here was advising to fix (no fault of his of course) Just be careful the same Isn't happening again.

Fixing is always a bit of a gamble, you pay for peace of mind and hopefully win in the long run. But as in your example, you could lose out if prices fall.
That's what has made EDF's Blue +Price Promise attractive - there's no penalty for leaving before completion of the tariff. Even makes you accept their (lack of) customer service!

macman

MillicentBystander wrote: »

But of course contained within Centrica is a gas exploration/excavation/wholesaling arm which you surprisingly omitted from your post. When wholesale prices are high that makes a shed load of money and BG makes 'less'. And vice versa. They basically can't really lose, can they? I can't blame the poster for being suspicious given the spin in your posts.

PS are those 12.6 million customers actual individual customers? I genuinely don't know.

As far as I can make out, they are all residential accounts.