MSE News: We'll freeze energy prices, Ed Miliband tells Labour conference

rogerblack

undaunted wrote: »

Parliament could pass a law to do it. The energy companies could try going to europe - but will they? (remember that Energywatch & the like has previously suggested they ought to be referred to the competition commission so I'm not sure that they'll want to get involved in too much European involvement personally)

At some point, companies stop being interested in business if it's unprofitable.
If they were compelled to sell at below their costs, they get out of the business, take measures to cut costs impacting nonregulated parts of the business, or accept fines if they are lower than the cost of operating.

As far as I'm aware, it's not required for companies to allow switching.
I don't believe the level of credit worthiness before a prepayment meter is installed is also legislated.
One measure I might take as a company if I couldn't make money is to stop taking all but the most profitable new customers, or only accept them onto the most expensive tarriffs.

undaunted

Plushchris wrote: »

Chinless wonder Ed will probably announce today that under a labour government petrol prices will fall below £1 a litre too...


:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Well, if he'd done that too he may never have delivered on it but he'd probably have won the election by a land slide

typistretired

If Ed Milband making this promise makes the current government sort out the energy companies before the general election, he has done us a favour. The foreign owed energy companies charge less to their customers in their own country.

DaftMule

1) Fixing energy costs for 1.75 years. Is that actually going to amount to any sort of bean hill to your average householder, especially if you are on a fixed tariff if/when it comes in. May save you £50 to £100 over the 20 months? But then at the end of the 20 month freeze the power companies will just ramp up prices over night to claw it all back.

2) Far more importantly, 20 months!? Why 20 months? Neither 1 year nor 2 but somewhere 75%-ish the way between the two. Why not say 19 months or 21?

verydeeppockets

From the energy.eu website...

EU countries with household gas supplies more expensive than the UK:

Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Croatia
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
France
Germany
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Luxembourg
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden

EU countries with household gas supplies cheaper than the UK:

Lithuania
Romania

EU countries with household electricity supplies more expensive than the UK:

Austria
Belgium
Cyprus
Denmark
Germany
Ireland
Italy
Netherlands
Portugal
Slovakia
Spain
Sweden

EU countries with household electricity supplies cheaper than the UK:

Bulgaria
Croatia
Czech Republic
Estonia
Finland
France
Greece
Hungary
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Poland
Romania
Slovenia

As an example - have a look at this -

Country € per kWh Natural Gas
Austria 0.06691
Belgium 0.06362
Bulgaria 0.05061
Croatia 0.3715
Denmark 0.10805
Estonia 0.047
France 0.05706
Germany 0.06139
Hungary 0.05752
Ireland 0.05827
Italy 0.07932

United Kingdom 0.04450

Cheap ain't it?

We have one of the smallest gas storage facilities in europe.
No investment means no storage, no security.
Last winter we were literally hours from running out, close to importing at any cost to keep the country warm.
If you don't believe me, go google.

The sandal wearing lentilists at the EU force us to close our power stations.
Nobody in the UK has done anything about building new ones for the past decade.

If we did build new power stations, who pays?
The utility companies won't - Ed's just told 'em that the 5% profit they make, partly to reinvest in infrastructure, isn't fair on the consumer.

Who is going to supply us with gas or electricity at a loss, because Ed is setting the domestic price for 20 months, but the russians decide to put the wholesale price up mid winter? Idiot.

How does a government make a private company price fix? It's illegal for starters. Govt can't pay either - there is no gubbermint money left - it was all spent. All gone. £4 or more for every £3 earnt. Gone. Blown the lot, then they wonga'd billions on top, to the tune of £18,000 per person. That means you. 18 grand. Each. Whoops.
Interest on the loans - £1,800 a year per family. £1,800 of your tax is going on interest payments on govt loans. That'd cover the 'lecky wouldn't it?
When there was money, to improve our energy infrastructure and security, the idiots were in charge. They spent it on other more shiny vote-winning stuff, for over a decade.

Balls says he's the first guy to ask the independent Office of Budget Responsibility to check his figures. He will be, the OBR was only set up after the last b

---

dy election to stop the lunacy.
Oh, and have 25 hours free childcare on top - we'll just print some more money for that one...

I despair, I really do. :rotfl:

DragonQ

insanegloss wrote: »

It also means, that there wouldn't be much of a reduction on your bills if they made no profit. Between £65 and £130 pounds a year off on a £1300 dual fuel bill, or £5.41 to £10.82 per month. Also, that would mean that they couldn't build any new infrastructure (after all, you've just covered the costs of the bill and no more) and shareholders wouldn't get a dividend.

What infrastructure do the energy companies pay for? Doesn't the government fund things such as new nuclear power plants, which these companies then make a profit on?

molerat

How about Ed cutting the "green" levies and FIT payments that are an unfair tax on the poorer consumers, what about the VAT (tell the EU to f off) ? Probably would not buy enough votes from Middle England with that though.

Joe_Bloggs

verydeeppockets said

We have one of the smallest gas storage facilities in europe.

Perhaps we need more forward looking attitudes considering this setback:-
http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article1338234.ece

Underground storage is feasible
http://www.bgs.ac.uk/research/energy/undergroundGasStorage.html

undaunted

DragonQ wrote: »

What infrastructure do the energy companies pay for? Doesn't the government fund things such as new nuclear power plants, which these companies then make a profit on?

Thanks, I was wondering about that myself as I'm sure there was recent talk of Govt being asked to finance / subsidise new power stations. Here you go, it was EDF

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/9914126/Nuclear-future-hangs-in-the-balance-as-EDF-talks-reach-critical-stage.html


Interesting Watchdog report on how Ireland are managing to cut prices whilst ours rise. You must make your own mind up whether Deccs comments make sense. I would expect genuine competition and falling global raw materials prices to lower UK prices and perhaps even raise service standards too personally - though it doesn't seem to work that way in this market somehow

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mg74/features/electricity

verydeeppockets

DragonQ wrote: »

What infrastructure do the energy companies pay for? Doesn't the government fund things such as new nuclear power plants, which these companies then make a profit on?

Excluding turbines, shickenchit and woodchip stuff, and excluding recently refurbed stuff that the EU lentilists are now telling us to close down, the chunkiest most recently opened power station is in Notts, online 2010/11.
Plans were made as early as 1993 for that one, but it did sit around for a while as it wasn't economical to run at one point.
Paid for by National Power, I think. Private company.

It's not quick, not easy, not cheap.

And if I were an investor considering building a power station, after what Ed the donkey has just said, my money would be staying in my pocket.

Lights out in 3, 2, 1...

You couldn't make it up :T