MSE News: EDF to raise energy prices by a massive 10.8%

wantanswers

I believe the time has passed for Registering with the Eden Scheme which is the first I believe to have the backing of the Government.

Some 9,000 have signed up i believe and it is going to be interesting re what deal they can achieve for those registered.

Also some of the comments and observations in the link below do sound interesting and it will be interesting how they will be addressed, however, the initial response to the scheme appears positive!

http://www.edenproject.com/blog/index.php/2012/07/collective-buying-scheme-to-secure-cheaper-energy-tariffs-and-tackle-fuel-poverty-in-cornwall/

Maybe in the future 'Comparison Sites' could become a thing of the past?

jalexa

wantanswers wrote: »

Maybe in the future 'Comparison Sites' could become a thing of the past?

Presumably not before uSwitch have done the number crunching on the "Eden scheme":D.

Anybody got a ready link on comparative rates delivered by the Big Switch?

I'll make a prediction here that the "Eden scheme" may (or may not) deliver a competitive tariff (and err... who funds the 10% thingy?) but the tariff will be largely based on "post-increase" pricing.

I'm generally a supporter of comparison websites though I recognise the argument that the referral costs are in fact a cost to the supplier and of the same order as alleged customer profitability.

Little over a week ago all the comparison websites featured (to name two suppliers to avoid accusations of being partisan) fixed rate tariffs to spring 2014 (i.e. two winters) from Scottish Power and Edf, based on pre-increase pricing and no early termination charges. Tariffs therefore with virtually no downside. You know, *that* was competition at work. I do not know what quota was available but some or all of the 9000 "Eden scheme" signatories almost certainly have missed the tariff boat. How come?

It is easy to disparage the comparison websites funded through referral fees, but who is funding the "quangocrats" of the "Eden scheme" (and the 10% thingy)?

Answers anybody?

Later edit: Nope it seems:(

wantanswers

jalexa wrote: »

Presumably not before uSwitch have done the number crunching on the "Eden scheme":D.

Well apart from one then?

jalexa

wantanswers wrote: »

Well apart from one then?

Well if your argument is there are too many (because the referral fee is too generous) then I won't disagree.

wantanswers

jalexa wrote: »

You know, *that* was competition at work. I do not know what quota was available but some or all of the 9000 "Eden scheme" signatories almost certainly have missed the tariff boat. How come?


Answers?

The interesting bit for me Jalexa is that the NHS (Cornwall) may have registered and I would not expect them to have missed the "Tariff Boat" as you appear to suggest (something wrong if they have)....so as they say ...don't knock it until you have the results!

Also....the Council Authority may have registered (so same goes re missing the "Tariff Boat") both substantial energy users I presume!

grahamc2003

Ah great, another 'ground breaking' scheme. I would have thought the ground is well and truly broken by now.

Some things are very strange indeed. Do the NHS really need to join forces with householders to get a bulk energy discount? Isn't the NHS the biggest organisation in the UK?.

The only thing most of these things have in common is that they introduce a further level of bureaucracy which can do nothing except raise costs overall. Possibly, such a scheme may lower bills for a certain section (like Cornwall), but overall, the admin burden increases so overall bills (or taxes or other funding, like council tax to fund the council workers who invented the scheme) increases to cover the extra costs.

So say £3.5m is saved for Cornish bills - given that the profit of all in the industry is regulated (either explicity like the National Grid, or implicitly like the suppliers), a 3.5m revenue shortfall in one area results in a 3.5m raising elsewhere. So Yorkshire then adopts a similar scheme (if - a big 'if' imv - it works in Conwall), and eventually the whole country does - at which stage everyone pays an elevated bill and no one gains.

You can only lower the efficiency of a system by shuffling paper around and introducing middlemen imv.

grahamc2003

wantanswers wrote: »

I believe the time has passed for Registering with the Eden Scheme which is the first I believe to have the backing of the Government.

?

You say that as if it is something positive!

wantanswers

I don't think its "ground breaking" Graham......Labour now appears to be doing something similar....!

http://andylovemp.blogspot.co.uk/



"You say that as if it is something positive!" Not at all, but if anything helps to curb significant energy prices then i'm ONLY interested for the time being!

grahamc2003

wantanswers wrote: »

"You say that as if it is something positive!" Not at all, but if anything helps to curb significant energy prices then i'm ONLY interested for the time being!

Obviously, everyone is interested in schemes which curb energy prices.

But imo, as I took significant time to explain but appear to have cast on stony ground, these schemes increase costs overall, not decrease them.

wantanswers

It would appear the three major political parties are now giving the thumbs up re "Collective Purchasing & Switching" which imo are worth monitoring although I'm not sure I would agree with your "IMO" about "increasing costs overall" nor do I think it should.

Re the labour scheme it clearly states:

"The labour Party does not make any money from the scheme"


http://labour.ichoosr.com/views/Pages/LandingLabour.html

Like the Eden Project it may or may not prove beneficial for consumers!

Re your mention of the NHS in your previous post...yes I find that a little baffling also The Local Authority!