All the major energy firms confirm massive price hikes from October

Former_MSE_Sophie

All the major energy suppliers have now confirmed massive price hikes to their standard variable tariffs from 1 October, after regulator Ofgem increased the maximum suppliers can charge under the energy price cap. 

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All the major energy firms confirm massive price hikes from October

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james_smitha

A great help to those afected by companies such as utility point that recently went bust

[Deleted User]

james_smitha said:

A great help to those afected by companies such as utility point that recently went bust

Sadly, both for consumers and suppliers, the Cap at the moment does not cover the cost of any additional energy that has to be purchased from the market. Many suppliers will be pushing hard to have the Cap increased even further if they are not to go out of business.

Grizzlebeard

The "Price Cap" is a very crude tool for protecting consumers.

It's a sledge hammer with the unfortunate side effect that it causes more bruised fingers and broken thumbs than fixes with cleanly driven nails.

bristolleedsfan

Dolor said:

james_smitha said:

A great help to those afected by companies such as utility point that recently went bust

. Many suppliers will be pushing hard to have the Cap increased even further if they are not to go out of business.

Suppliers that have gone out of business recently were pricing fixed rates well below the cap + mostly offering refer a friend bonuses,  interesting what Spain Government has done https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/14/spain-cuts-soaring-energy-prices-with-emergency-measures

[Deleted User]

bristolleedsfan said:

HDolor said:

james_smitha said:

A great help to those afected by companies such as utility point that recently went bust

. Many suppliers will be pushing hard to have the Cap increased even further if they are not to go out of business.

Suppliers that have gone out of business recently were pricing fixed rates well below the cap + mostly offering refer a friend bonuses,  interesting what Spain Government has done https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/14/spain-cuts-soaring-energy-prices-with-emergency-measures

Quote: Spain is also in the eye of the storm because it relies heavily on imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG), which would have been available in normal times but this year the pandemic has played havoc with the market. 

It has to compete with China, Japan, and Korea for scarce global supply. Europe’s LNG spot price has tripled since April to a record $22 (MMBtu) - if you can get it - with a rise in Spanish power prices to match. Unquote (DT - full article paywalled)

Swipe

Time to temporarily remove VAT on gas and electric?

bristolleedsfan

British Gas  - Price Promise Sep 2022 prices are fixed until 30 September 2022 at rates that are below the 1st October 2021 OFGEM Price Cap rates

[Deleted User]

Swipe said:

Time to temporarily remove VAT on gas and electric?

That would only benefit consumers with no benefit whatsoever to suppliers as VAT is a pass on tax. A better option, imho, would be to temporarily reduce the green levies applied to tariffs. This wouldn’t change the cost of energy to consumers but it would give suppliers some relief; fewer suppliers would go to the wall, and the cost of supplier failures (that we all pay for) would be reduced.

merchcon55

Though companies will have to shoulder the higher costs while the measures remain in place, they will be reimbursed through higher tariffs later, meaning the overall cost to them will be neutral, the ministry said.

However, Spain’s nuclear power association said the new measures would make nuclear plants financially unviable and provoke a total shutdown of the industry.

[Deleted User]

bristolleedsfan said:

British Gas  - Price Promise Sep 2022 prices are fixed until 30 September 2022 at rates that are below the 1st October 2021 OFGEM Price Cap rates

That isn’t that surprising as very large suppliers have the money and experience to hedge well in advance of supply. BG has also lost a lot of customers in recent months so it probably has the headroom to take on more customers and still make a profit from them; ie, it is selling them energy that it has already bought. 

Many smaller suppliers have less market experience and do not hedge that far in advance as hedging costs money. It is the smaller suppliers that are now struggling to stay afloat: as one analyst put it, they failed to monitor what was happening in the Spot market and offered fixed tariffs on the assumption that they would be able to purchase additional energy for new customers at a tariff equivalent price. FWiW, I recently secured a good 2 year gas tariff fixed through until September 2023 at 3.19p/kWh. The variable price is now 3.9p/kWh and the 2 year fix is over 4.9p/kWh.