Avro energy - new contract with new supplier is going to be ridiculous

FreeBear

sam1974_2 said:

hubb said:

I live in a single cavity house built in 1883. You can't insulate that I'm afraid.

Ours is 1850’s and we had external wall insulation 

Some buildings can not be fitted with EWI or IWI - Listed ones for example. Loss of floor space is one downside of internal wall insulation, but this can be reduced by careful selection of insulator. Trouble is, the higher the insulation performance, the greater the cost. So it boils down to "what can I fit within budget" - For some, it may be thermal wall paper, others, 35mm of insulated plasterboard. Where budgets & practicalities exclude those, plugging draughts and hanging thick curtains will help to some extent.

[Deleted User]

KenUsername said:

I’m slightly less panicked as the flexible rate with price cap isn’t quite as bad as the fixed rates available. If they are still available when I get the chance to switch.

Sticking with the current Ofgem Cap is just kicking the can down the road. Customers on capped tariffs are paying less than market prices and suppliers are going to the wall. The cost of supplier failure is going to cost us £Ms which has to be added to all the factors that go into calculating future capped energy prices: the accounting period for the April 2022 Cap is already well underway. By not upping the Cap now, the Government can claim that it is protecting consumers; however, it knows that the Cap increase in 2022 is going to be significant. This will come at the same time as the increase in NI and Council Tax (the latter is predicted to be at the maximum allowed to cover care costs). And, don't forget food and motor fuel inflation which are increasing by the day.

I am afraid that pushing for more insulation; new nuclear power stations, and more renewables is not going to help consumers in the short to medium term. What will consumers think if the lights do go out: will they see the headless chicken/the end of the World is nigh approach to Net Zero as worth it? Personally, I doubt it. Various worst-case scenario reports presented to the Government over the past 2 years have shown that when there is a crisis of supply, the UK will always be able to get the energy that it needs PROVIDED consumers are willing to pay highly-inflated prices for it. 

https://ukerc.ac.uk/news/cost-of-gas-by-default/?utm_source=UKERC+subscribers+2018+post+GDPR&utm_campaign=56e2e0e4a1-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_05_20_11_04_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_2886c4f7af-56e2e0e4a1-155395937

FWiW, the National Grid has been paying Wind Farm owners constraint payments this week (£2M) as our electricity infrastructure is too fragile to get the 'free' power from Scotland to the rest of the UK. Apparently, it is cheaper for National Grid to make these payments rather than paying to improve the infrastructure. These are the decisions usually made by lunatics in an asylum. 

Uxb1

Its all to do with long transmission lines
Mostly a problem in Russia and the USA where generators may be situated a long way from the main areas of consumption.
Without a degree in Electrical Engineering like wot I have from the early 1980's its a bit difficult to explain easily, and I've forgotten lots of it as I worked in generation and not transmission.
Briefly - you think for a length of cable what goes in comes out the other end less some microscopic losses, but when the transmission lines becomes 100Km's in length it all starts to get complicated as there are other effects that come into play and the transmission line becomes a "electrical component" in itself so you cannot just stuff more power in at one end and expect to get more power out at the other end.

PennyForThem_2

Why was the Severn Tidal and Swansea Tidal projects rejected?  Tide is dependent on the moon which is not going to disappear any time soon (unless gets hit by cosmic rock several miles wide).

Surely any investment in tidal electricity generation is a good investment?

nologo

PennyForThem_2 said:

Why was the Severn Tidal and Swansea Tidal projects rejected?  Tide is dependent on the moon which is not going to disappear any time soon (unless gets hit by cosmic rock several miles wide).

Surely any investment in tidal electricity generation is a good investment?

I also don't understand why more tidal isn't built, as its both reliable and predictable. 

I am fortunate  that I do believe that global warming is man made and have spent this afternoon with a large can of expanding foam to block some draughts. Over the last few weeks,I have also insulated all my heating pipes in an effort to reduce my fuel consumption, I have done something to improve the energy use of every house I have owned (double glazing, cavity wall insulation,  draught proofing, better heating controls, loft insulation,)only the wall insulation was free,Insulation is the solution in most houses,  When I moved in December 2020 my gas heating bill was £100 a month, I'm aiming for £70 month this winter, New heating controls are next on the list,

KenUsername

I lagged every pipe a long time ago, changed every single light bulb from 100 watt 80 watt etc down to led 5w, got a new quality boiler, and draught proofed everywhere I could, including underfloor insulating as well as loft insulation, yet. My bills are the highest they’ve ever been by a long way, let’s be honest, bills go up, they always have, (not just energy)  the ultra rich running these companies become ultra richer still, and the solution to the problems caused by oil, petrol, electricity, gas……is almost always price rises?

My original point was (loosely) how much higher can prices get before regular folk are crippled….. watch a TV doc or read about the Victorian times when the rich had everything they ever wanted and much, much more, while the rest of the population were starving. Are we heading the same way? 

[Deleted User]

PennyForThem_2 said:

Why was the Severn Tidal and Swansea Tidal projects rejected?  Tide is dependent on the moon which is not going to disappear any time soon (unless gets hit by cosmic rock several miles wide).

Surely any investment in tidal electricity generation is a good investment?

Cost was a major factor.

https://www.thegreenage.co.uk/why-arent-we-generating-energy-from-the-severn/