Stnading Charge 28 July 2016 at 10:33AM in Campaigns corner 8 replies 5.2K views

quisquis

I think they're wrong and should be scrapped. This is what I'm doing about it. You? http://standingwater.simdif.com

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

It is called choice. If you don't like them, shop around. My provider ranges from 27 pence to 8 pence a day.

Off course, you could use candles in your cave.

andromedean

The whole point of a campaign is that a group is far more powerful than an individual, particularly a faceless isolated consumer lost in the crowd.

The standing charge might be economically justified on the basis that it costs money to simply maintain the potential of a utility service even without its use. Wires and pipes have to be installed and need to be maintained.

On the other hand a standing charge hardly encourages water or energy conservation, because it imposes a higher cost per unit on low users. So perhaps it's best if the standing charge was abolished.

JJ_Egan

So we go back to the old method of charging more for the first xxx amount used .
Ofcom /Ofwat etc in their wisdom said standing charge was better for the consumer .

derrick

JJ_Egan wrote: »

So we go back to the old method of charging more for the first xxx amount used .
Ofcom /Ofwat etc in their wisdom said standing charge was better for the consumer .

And we all know that those 2, especially OfcoN, are not there for the consumer.


.

MothballsWallet

derrick wrote: »

And we all know that those 2, especially OfcoN, are not there for the consumer.


.

Ofcom/Ofcon, aka BT's Best Friend

Lord_Baltimore

Generally speaking, I like David v Goliath face offs .

But isn't the standing charge used for maintaining the infrastructure, pipes, sewers, drains etc so how will they do that if there is no/reduced funding?

baldelectrician

The standing charge is a bargain


I can give 2 examples of them being used in the past week (I am an electrical contractor and have to call Scottish Power to repair faults)


2 days ago
Found unsafe fuse carrier with live exposed parts- called Scottish Power faults and emergencies (Saturday afternoon about 3pm) and they were out within an hour and fixed it


today
Was carrying out an electrical job and noticed the supply tails were not adequate, called Scottish Power who were out within about an hour and they have passed the job to a contractor for a laterals upgrade.


Not bad for 28p per day

TheGardener

It seems reasonable to me that all customers are charged for the supply regardless of how much they use. So if a water main in the street is used by everyone - everyone pays the same amount to have access to it and to maintain it. The low users just pay a smaller water bill (assuming they are on a meter) I don't see how that is unreasonable?