Energy: Find the cheapest supplier & earn cashback

teddyco

tonyhamm,

I agree with your opinions.

Do you remember the program on Channel 4 or ITV last year about Enron and their deceitful tactics in California?

I remember when California was suffering black-outs as a result of what many folks thought was an energy 'shortage', but in reality, Enron energy brokers were wickedly moving energy out of California and creating a phony shortage and then re-selling the energy back at peak times at stellar prices.

In case the viewer of the program was not convinced that human beings could do these things to innocent people, they played recorded tapes of Enron energy brokers laughing with each other on the telephone and boasting about all the folks they were screwing in the process.

All of this was documented and lessons learned in the USA......

I was shocked at what I heard, but I guess it didn't surprise me that it was possible.

It makes me wonder if these same things are happening with our own supply of energy in the UK?

tonyhamm

in the energy market - this situation with UK gas (we are a major gas producer folks!) being more expensive than Europes gas (Who have to import thier gas) from 2003 is crazy!!.

As to Enron - When you look into the UK energy market its unbeliveable whats going on! Where is the money going with all these artifically high prices?

Splitting the market into wholesale and retail.
Wholesale:
(1) EU Corruption and the Supplier cartel.
The very few suppliers who own the gas fields and are faced with masses of very cheap gas, have hoodwinked the citizens of the EU and linked the price of thier supply contracts to oil - a rarer and different energy commodity with massive geopoltical price swings -like rising in price when going to war, or when world demand is growing. Its totally totally insane, like indexing the price of bread to the price of milk when theres a cow shortage, but they have got away with it with under this government who refuses to challenge what is obviously endemic EU corrupt ion with the EU energy cartel, dispite Nu Labours Mandelson holding the EU prime trade position!

(2) In Europe there are only a handful of Gas suppliers (who own the fields) and form a cartel/monopoly, but in America there are thousands of suppliers - funny enough in America they operate gas supply contracts actually based on the price of .... gas!
The suppliers there have to supply gas at the cost of production, if they tried to sell it 'indexed to oil as in the EU', another supplier would simply increase supply and drive the price down!

The US energy market is a free market and there are no fake high prices playing into the profits of a few monopoly suppliers. The price of gas is based on the price of gas.
The EU energy market is a monopoly/cartel and there are artifically high prices - The price of gas is based on something a lot more expensive. The price of UK gas has been more expensive than EU gas since 2003!

(3) UK Gas storage. We have no ability in the UK to store our own gas. This means that we are dependant on the EU!

Retail
(1) There are only 6 large energy retailers in the UK. British Gas, Scottish and Southern Energy, Scottish Power, EDF Energy, E.ON and npower.
These form a defacto cartel. They have the ability to drive prices up by following each others rises - without any hidden collusion to drive prices up. Hence the RED light - GREEN light system on MSE while they all follow each others prices higher! Centrica - a gas supplier - owns British Gas dispite there being only 6 large retailers! There has to be more room given for different retailers and more competition in the retail market - Maybe we should also have supermarkets allowed in selling us gas and electricity!.

(2) The switching process takes far too long. Instead of weeks its months.

Conclusion.
The energy market far more corrupt than the practices of one firm (ENRON) - Its politically rigged, no doubt thanks to the lack of democracy in the EU, so the whole industry runs into the hands of a few suppliers who can drive energy prices up and up and up far beyond the production costs. In the US the situation is totally different there is massive competition from thousands of companies who own gas and oil resources and impressive technology being developed to further reserves. Thats what we need in the EU.

But, curently, at the wholesale level its a corrupt supplier monopoly backed by the unelected EU elite, and at the retail level it's a domestic cartel.

Many UK jobs and industries are being lost forever by these corrupt EU markets and the few suppliers-
The manufacturers' organisation (EEF) on the UK energy market: "Under our much-vaunted liberalised market, industrial consumers are now paying significantly more for their energy than their competitors in Europe! "

Most of the extra rises in energy costs are due to artifically pumped up wholesale prices, which are creamed off into the hands of a corrupt cartel of a few EU wholesale suppliers!

I-LOV-MONEY

Had an e-mail this morning from BG offering a fixed rate till 2011. Trying to find the prices on their site was very difficult, and then when I opened the tables, I didn't understand them !!

http://www.britishgas.co.uk/products-and-services/energy/dual/fixed-price-2011/rates.html

Princess_Fluffy

I'd be very grateful if anyone can clear this up for me.

On Martin's advice I phoned E-On last week and asked to switch to Price Protection October 2009. At the time it was apparently still possible to switch by phone. I've now received the info in the post and the tariff is called 'Price Protection 17'. Have I switched to the right tariff i.e. the cheaper capped rate, or have they switched me to a new, higher priced, totally different capped rate?!! Is Price Protection 17 the same as Price Protection October 2009, the one Martin was advocating, and the one I asked for?! It does say in the info the cap lasts until October 2009 so I'm hoping it is the same.

Advice greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

papi34

I signed up to Scottish Power's fixed tariff until 2011 a couple of months ago, through moneysupermarket.com with the promise of £30 cash back for signing up through this site. Anyone got any ideas how I chase this up?

Cheers

Jostick

londoncarl wrote: »

Anyone else had problems with Scottish Power, ........customer service which is dreadful.

Oh yes!

Tried to switch last year but it never happened. I was happy to receive my cashback from Quidco though.

Tried to switch to their capped rate on 15th July, switched my Mum on the same day, both via Quidco. She has had several confirmation letters; me, nothing (although tracked payment showing in Quidco) I've been told there is no record of me visiting their site/ I must have a peculiar meter/ the problem must be Quidco/ the moon was in the wrong phase etc.

I am happy to keep applying through Quidco and taking the cashback so long as they are happy not to sign me up!

Anyone else had this problem or are you all being coy about it!

David_Mee

Niemand wrote: »

Martin's advice now is not to switch. See DON'T SWITCH Gas & Electricity.

Sure, but that's because others appear good and may turn out to be bad but surely if the two who have increased prices are now cheapest something's gone AWOL??

JimmyTheWig

David_Mee wrote: »

Sure, but that's because others appear good and may turn out to be bad but surely if the two who have increased prices are now cheapest something's gone AWOL??

Agree that something's gone wrong. Seems incredible that the "cheapest" was one whose prices had gone up.
How long ago did you last switch? How are you currently paying (direct debit, etc)?
It may be that your current deal is so poor that a switch to British Gas (with their price increases) would benefit you by £80 a year.

I strikes me that you have two choices...
1. Switch now
2. Switch in, say, three months time

By switching now you start saving straight away. By not waiting three months you'll save £20.
By leaving it, say, three months until things have settled down a bit I think you could probably trust the comparison sites a lot more and could probably get yourself a better deal . Whether this better deal will save you more than £20 in the long run, who knows...

toshkininny

Princess_Fluffy wrote: »

I'd be very grateful if anyone can clear this up for me.

On Martin's advice I phoned E-On last week and asked to switch to Price Protection October 2009. At the time it was apparently still possible to switch by phone. I've now received the info in the post and the tariff is called 'Price Protection 17'. Have I switched to the right tariff i.e. the cheaper capped rate, or have they switched me to a new, higher priced, totally different capped rate?!! Is Price Protection 17 the same as Price Protection October 2009, the one Martin was advocating, and the one I asked for?! It does say in the info the cap lasts until October 2009 so I'm hoping it is the same.

Advice greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

I'm wondering the same.

handful

My situation echoes David Mee's. British gas is coming up as the cheapest deal for me and less than my current Scottish Power deal (not much but a bit). Surely if British Gas prices have already been raised this should be reflected in the comparison sites?? If the comparison is correct and it is the cheapest deal even after their recent increase, then I should'nt I be switching as nobody is going to be reducing prices for the foreseeable future??

If this is the case then the MSE advice should be 'don't switch unless the company you are switching to has already raised their prices'??