MSE News: Energy bills to vary MORE by region under price cap - so are you a winner or a loser? 7 December 2018 at 2:31PM in Energy 6 replies 868 views

MSE_Stephen_B

Energy prices for those on standard tariffs are likely to vary more between different parts of the country after the introduction of Ofgem's price cap next month, MoneySavingExpert.com can reveal - with households in the South West set to pay an average £62 a year more than those in Yorkshire...

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'Energy bills to vary MORE by region under price cap - so are you a winner or a loser?'

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EachPenny

MoneySavingExpert.com deputy editor Guy Anker said: "The regional variations highlight what is a postcode lottery whereby some are harshly penalised simply for living in the ‘wrong area’.

Guy, if you are reading this, it would be interesting to know why - if it costs more to suppy electricity in one area than another - that you consider it is unfair for people living in the more expensive area to pay a little bit more?

Isn't it a similar situation to Council Tax where people might pay extra if they are living in a borough that spends a bit more than another one? I've never heard this being described as a 'postcode lottery'.

As for 'harshly penalised' - the average for the OFGEM price cap is £1,137. The most expensive (SWEB) is £1,173. If my maths is right that works out at 3.2% more than the average. 3.2% doesn't sound like a harsh penalty, given the savings which can be made by switching anyway. Have I missed something here?

MSE do great work... but that great work relies on balanced and fair information being presented. Long may it continue.

oldwiring

this might be interesting/, if the many references to comparison sites are ignored.

delboy61

Well what's the point having a price cap from January 2019 I have THTC Standard tariff my rates at the present time are (NIGHT RATE £0.1281) DAY RATE £0.2208 and STANDING CHARGE £0.1918 all with VAT , from the 1st of January its going to be (NIGHT RATE £0.1278 DOWN £0.0003 OF A PENNY) DAY RATE £0.2202 DOWN £0.0006 OF A PENNY and BETTER STILL STANDING CHARGE IS £0.2655 GOING UP £0.0737 PENCE and they say this will help to keep the prices down What a joke I AM GOING TO SAVE £1.80 DAY TIME AND £2.70 NIGHT TIME BUT PAY £26.90 MORE FOR THE STANDING CHARGE over a year , one of my work mates are on a different company (NO NAMES) but on there PRICE CAP there PRICES are ACTUALLY coming down DAY RATE DOWN BY 3 PENCE AND NIGHT RATE COMING DOWN BY 1.5 PENCE But STANDING CHARGE GOING UP BY 8 PENCE ,So after being with SSE since 1992 (26 years) I think it time for a CHANGE.

molerat

delboy61 wrote: »

.........

Did you really think that OFGEM meddling in a free market was actually going to reduce prices ?

wavelets

delboy61 wrote: »

Well what's the point having a price cap from January 2019 I have THTC Standard tariff my rates at the present time are (NIGHT RATE £0.1281) DAY RATE £0.2208 and STANDING CHARGE £0.1918 all with VAT , from the 1st of January its going to be (NIGHT RATE £0.1278 DOWN £0.0003 OF A PENNY) DAY RATE £0.2202 DOWN £0.0006 OF A PENNY and BETTER STILL STANDING CHARGE IS £0.2655 GOING UP £0.0737 PENCE and they say this will help to keep the prices down What a joke I AM GOING TO SAVE £1.80 DAY TIME AND £2.70 NIGHT TIME BUT PAY £26.90 MORE FOR THE STANDING CHARGE over a year , one of my work mates are on a different company (NO NAMES) but on there PRICE CAP there PRICES are ACTUALLY coming down DAY RATE DOWN BY 3 PENCE AND NIGHT RATE COMING DOWN BY 1.5 PENCE But STANDING CHARGE GOING UP BY 8 PENCE ,So after being with SSE since 1992 (26 years) I think it time for a CHANGE.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=74780609&postcount=279 :cool:

Don't even think about it with your current metering.

System

EachPenny wrote: »

Guy, if you are reading this, it would be interesting to know why - if it costs more to suppy electricity in one area than another - that you consider it is unfair for people living in the more expensive area to pay a little bit more?

Isn't it a similar situation to Council Tax where people might pay extra if they are living in a borough that spends a bit more than another one? I've never heard this being described as a 'postcode lottery'.

As for 'harshly penalised' - the average for the OFGEM price cap is £1,137. The most expensive (SWEB) is £1,173. If my maths is right that works out at 3.2% more than the average. 3.2% doesn't sound like a harsh penalty, given the savings which can be made by switching anyway. Have I missed something here?

MSE do great work... but that great work relies on balanced and fair information being presented. Long may it continue.

There is a detailed paper about this on the Ofgem website. Ofgem is sticking with the present system - at least, for the moment.

Quote: It is legally possible to introduce national network charges but the change from the current approach would need to be justified against various criteria in European law, particularly on cost reflectivity. There are international (including European Union) examples, both of systems like ours and ones more akin to national network charges.

There are potentially significant implications for the regulatory framework and incentives we have implemented or will be implementing to encourage energy efficiency on the networks, if we were to move away from a cost reflective approach.

There are regulatory advantages in charges that broadly reflect the costs that different users place on the system Unquote