Energy prices.... consumers need to get a grip.

chanz4

anyone guess where free energy saving insulation comes from.... or maybe the none payers who do runners....

ooppss thats right higher bills

ihateyes

chanz4 wrote: »

anyone guess where free energy saving insulation comes from.... or maybe the none payers who do runners....

ooppss thats right higher bills

the free insulation is something the government has forced the energy companies to day....

problem is.... insulation for council houses is crap,,, whats the government doing about that.... cos council tenants cant get free insulation.... !!!!!!!

Cardew

MillicentBystander wrote: »

To try and compare the prices of a commodity when they aren't both charged in the same currency (let alone the same country) is futile. So what if the £ rises against the euro by 50% tomorrow? Will our gas and electricity prices then be the cheapest in Europe?? It's basically a nonsense and used by industry apologists. At least you have let us know you work in the industry so kudos to you for that.

It is obviously a valid argument that the exchange rate can distort comparisons, although I suspect by most criteria the UK are towards the cheaper end of the price spectrum - particularly for gas.

Perhaps a better comparison would be on the profits made by Utility companies in the UK market; and that includes the 'parent company' e.g. Centrica and BG.

If the average gas/electricity bill in UK is in the region of £1,300 pa, what do we consider would be a fair profit margin in that amount?

Or put it another way, if the 'BIG 6' made zero profit(like Ebico!) how much would our annual bills reduce?

markharding557

Some of the increase is caused by the governments moronic green schemes and their insane plans to close coal fired generators:mad:

Terrylw1

ihateyes wrote: »

so when we are 3rd cheapest for Gas, 7th cheapest for electric how is this not competitive?

I think the poster meant there is no requirement for competition in a market with so few players. One puts prices up, consumers run away, they all catch up anyway, consumers fret about where to go...everyone still put their prices up though, its only a question of why goes first and whether they can recover the consumer losses when the rest catch up.

Terrylw1

MillicentBystander wrote: »

You would think this was sound advice and it should be but it matters not how little we use. The energy companies need to maintain their profits so they can pay their dividends and keep their shareholders happy. They will simply increase their prices accordingly to make up for the shortfall in turnover. Believing this won't happen is just wishful thinking, I'm afraid.

One example of this is the suppliers attempts to prevent their large losses in efficient practices to improve their bottomline. Hundreds of millions saved per year...but the prices still went up with everyone blaming the rising cost of wholesale.

So, where did all those millions go...oh yeah, consumers wouldn't know.

onceuponatime_2

On my gas bill the goverment take twice as much in green taxes than the company takes in profit! Even the boss of the company commented in a interview on the tv that here dosen't have any influence on policy. Surely we need to work total cost with and without the green taxes.

Terrylw1

onceuponatime wrote: »

On my gas bill the goverment take twice as much in green taxes than the company takes in profit! Even the boss of the company commented in a interview on the tv that here dosen't have any influence on policy. Surely we need to work total cost with and without the green taxes.

All companies are consulted for any change or creation into the market and always have. These companies are even allowed to create new policy by submitting them via the industry consultation process.

He probably meant he didn't have control over EU based policy but even then, the industry always consults these companies to understand how to even do it, costs, timescales, etc.

YorksClare

spot1034 wrote: »

I think you're looking at gas prices. Scroll down to the next table for electricty.

Yep - sorry! Have gone slightly cross-eyed reading all these numbers...

Thank you for sorting that out.

chris1973

Those figures are completely meaningless on their own. Are you also going to post other relative statistics such as average year 'round temperatures including those of Spring and Autumn, average income per family / household and any other fuel used for heating and cooking (I believe kerosene is a popular choice for these activities in some areas of France.

For example, if the average salary in Germany, Austria or Norway is 2 or 3 times that of the average / minimum wage in the UK, and unemployment is lower then there will be less instances of fuel poverty.

In addition, what type of pay rises does the average Swedish employee get every year?, are they like a lot of UK workers who perhaps haven't seen a pay rise in 3 to 5 years!. This point is also relative, because if the Swedes have had a 4% pay rise, then a 2% increase in utility bills isnt going to be noticed, whilst if you haven't had a payrise for several years, bills which increase twice a year, are going to be noticed.

The same applies to the average temperatures in these countries, often in the UK we have to have our heating on for far longer during Spring and Autumn, whilst some European countries are seeing warm or hot days and so their peak periods of heating requirement are generally far shorter than those seen in the UK, resulting in a much reduced annual energy consumption figure.

But just like you i'm fed up, fed up of people cherry picking poorly researched facts and only getting half a story, why don't you come back with more sources giving answers to the points which i've made above, and THEN do the comparison to the average family in the UK, and see if we are still better off.