Winter must be around the corner....

wotsthat

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Will add a further £100 onto the annual cost, in another inflationary pressure on families.

Psst...

It's been possible to fix prices for the next two winters. Have a look at moneysavingexpert.com - there's this bloke called Martin Lewis who's been going on about it.

I switched via moneysupermarket and got paid £70 to do so.

Seems like a good idea for anyone who thinks the energy companies can put up prices whenever they feel like it.

ILW

howee wrote: »

correct Mr Eurpoe dislikes dirty cheap fuel.

shale gas is a co2 but its a lot cleaner than coal and under Wales off Blackpool and under the humber sit's millions of cuft of the stuff.

Lets copy the yanks.

I would be happy with cheap and dirty. Wish I could be given the option.

Graham_Devon

wotsthat wrote: »

Psst...

It's been possible to fix prices for the next two winters. Have a look at moneysavingexpert.com - there's this bloke called Martin Lewis who's been going on about it.

I switched via moneysupermarket and got paid £70 to do so.

Seems like a good idea for anyone who thinks the energy companies can put up prices whenever they feel like it.

LOL. I do love your attempts to play down everything and everything.

Fixes end. The price rises will hit everyone in the end. Can't really see the beeb going down the silly route you attempt to push things down. This is the same sort of thing that renoman used to try and do with rail increases, pretending they didn't effect him, as he always bought a year ahead.

Zorz_2

ILW wrote: »

I belive we have rather a lot of coal, but the EU have decided we cannot use it. They do not have such problems in China.

ILW wrote: »

I would be happy with cheap and dirty. Wish I could be given the option.

I'm glad that you don't have that option anymore.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Smog

michaels

A lot of the increases are to subsidise all those wind-turbines and give the rich who could afford to invest in solar at the right moment their massive returns.

wotsthat

Graham_Devon wrote: »

LOL. I do love your attempts to play down everything and everything.

Fixes end. The price rises will hit everyone in the end. Can't really see the beeb going down the silly route you attempt to push things down. This is the same sort of thing that renoman used to try and do with rail increases, pretending they didn't effect him, as he always bought a year ahead.

Should I have not bothered switching "because price rises will hit everyone in the end"? Surely if you've got to pay an increased price for energy it's better to minimise or defer this increase.

I'm not paying 8% more for utilities than I was in 2007. It's taken some effort to reduce the amount used and a little time to make sure I stay on the best deal that's possible at the time. Doing nothing would probably have costed £800 - £900 more per year - soon adds up.

I'm not pretending that price rises don't affect me. Of course they do - they affect my outgoings and behaviour. Don't you think it's bizarre that we're having this argument on the UK's most popular money saving website where every weekly email for a while has included details of the two winter fix.

shortchanged_2

wotsthat wrote: »

Should I have not bothered switching "because price rises will hit everyone in the end"? Surely if you've got to pay an increased price for energy it's better to minimise or defer this increase.

I'm not paying 8% more for utilities than I was in 2007. It's taken some effort to reduce the amount used and a little time to make sure I stay on the best deal that's possible at the time. Doing nothing would probably have costed £800 - £900 more per year - soon adds up.

I'm not pretending that price rises don't affect me. Of course they do - they affect my outgoings and behaviour. Don't you think it's bizarre that we're having this argument on the UK's most popular money saving website where every weekly email for a while has included details of the two winter fix.

I don't know about you wotsthat but I was on EDF's fixed saver v2 and the change to their new blue price 2 year fix was more than 30% for electricity than I was on the previous deal. That equates to at least a 15% per year rise. Great deal there.

coastline

Watched a TV show recently which hightlighted the use of coal...we've still got plenty in the UK...
The report said its cost effective...wether it happens remains to be seen..

http://bigthink.com/ideafeed/china-leads-the-way-on-burning-clean-coal

sheffield_lad

coastline wrote: »

Watched a TV show recently which hightlighted the use of coal...we've still got plenty in the UK...
The report said its cost effective...wether it happens remains to be seen..

http://bigthink.com/ideafeed/china-leads-the-way-on-burning-clean-coal

Umm, it might be cost effective (just), but no major ££ in it for the FS, assay, scoping, drilling needed to find a decent deposit that's before we start on infrastructure (old mines have been allowed to flood), I am suprised we have not heard more about on land fracking the yanks will be self sufficient in oil within the next 30yrs due the process and they have now found enough supply of gas to give the world (at current usage), another 250yrs worth!! The price in the US for gas has hit and remained at an all time low due to the amount of gas on the market. Yet we have vast amounts under the ground and to date no one has tried to exploit it?

wotsthat

shortchanged wrote: »

I don't know about you wotsthat but I was on EDF's fixed saver v2 and the change to their new blue price 2 year fix was more than 30% for electricity than I was on the previous deal. That equates to at least a 15% per year rise. Great deal there.

I've gone from the same EDF deal to Scottish Power's Nov 2013 fix. Based on the energy I used in 2011 my total gas and electricity bills will rise by £87 which, in my case, is c10%. Subtract the £70 cashback and I'm looking at £17 or c2%. It's nothing - a few days cold or mild weather will make more of an impact.

I've looked at my total utility spend before but I've broken it down to just the gas & electricity...

2006 £1214
2007 £1275
2008 £831
2009 £1213
2010 £1066
2011 £831 (again)
2012 £577 (YTD)

Winters from 2006/7 to 2010/11 got consecutively colder during this time although 2011/12 was somewhat milder. Domestically I can see why there are fluctuations too but the bottom line is I've been chasing deals and trying to use less.

I'm not trying to pretend I'm not impacted by rises but it's in my own interest to minimise my own personal inflation rate.