Big Six collapse? Ofgem puts advisers on standby

Grumpy_chap

IF a "big six" is to fail, then I would not weep were that to be EDF given their appalling customer service and absolute hash they made of taking over my GNE account.  Plus they still remain unable to account for the credit balance I had with GNE.

Xbigman

Shedman said:

Article in the FT yesterday suggesting that even if a cold winter this level of high gas prices won't continue and that there could well be a sharp correction 🙏.

Surging gas prices likely to reverse course

 https://www.ft.com/content/f2ca6690-0390-4374-a9d5-29caf2d651dd

An interesting more global viewpoint. 
Low Hydro output in South America - I didn't know that
A cold spell in Asia (in gets cold in Asia?) - I didn't know that. 

A lesson that our Brexit and Pandemic obsessed media really aren't worth ready. Except the FT apparently.


Darren

Shedman

Xbigman said:

A cold spell in Asia (in gets cold in Asia?) - I didn't know that. 

It certainly does brrrr.

Winters in Northern China are very cold and dry. Temperatures average below freezing during winter months. January is the coldest at an average of -36ºF (-38ºC) in Harbin and 25ºF (-4ºC) in Beijing. 

QrizB

Grumpy_chap said:

IF a "big six" is to fail, then I would not weep were that to be EDF given their appalling customer service and absolute hash they made of taking over my GNE account.  Plus they still remain unable to account for the credit balance I had with GNE.

EDF did a great job for most people; I think you were just unlucky.

gt94sss2

Verdigris said:

People with he least money tend to be in rented accommodation, so I think a tightening of the EPC requirements for rentals should be implemented, perhaps in stages. I think a property has to have an EPC of E or above to be lettable at the moment. That needs to go up a letter every 5 years, say, with perhaps some incentive for landlords if the jump faster.

There are already plans to raise the EPC rating for rented properties.

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/buytolet/article-9932959/What-does-EPC-C-energy-efficiency-target-mean-landlords.html

The problem is that it's not practical to raise a lot of older properties to this level or higher.

molerat

Xbigman said:

Shedman said:

Article in the FT yesterday suggesting that even if a cold winter this level of high gas prices won't continue and that there could well be a sharp correction 🙏.

Surging gas prices likely to reverse course

 https://www.ft.com/content/f2ca6690-0390-4374-a9d5-29caf2d651dd

An interesting more global viewpoint. 
Low Hydro output in South America - I didn't know that
A cold spell in Asia (in gets cold in Asia?) - I didn't know that. 

A lesson that our Brexit and Pandemic obsessed media really aren't worth ready. Except the FT apparently.


Darren

What ?  You mean the sky is not going to fall in ?

brewerdave

gt94sss2 said:

Verdigris said:

People with he least money tend to be in rented accommodation, so I think a tightening of the EPC requirements for rentals should be implemented, perhaps in stages. I think a property has to have an EPC of E or above to be lettable at the moment. That needs to go up a letter every 5 years, say, with perhaps some incentive for landlords if the jump faster.

There are already plans to raise the EPC rating for rented properties.

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/buytolet/article-9932959/What-does-EPC-C-energy-efficiency-target-mean-landlords.html

The problem is that it's not practical to raise a lot of older properties to this level or higher.

Some rented properties in major cities would have to be knocked down and rebuilt from the ground up to achieve higher levels of insulation. And how many landlords are going to replace gas boilers with heat pumps at £x000s ??

savers_united

Shedman said:

Article in the FT yesterday suggesting that even if a cold winter this level of high gas prices won't continue and that there could well be a sharp correction 🙏.

Surging gas prices likely to reverse course

 https://www.ft.com/content/f2ca6690-0390-4374-a9d5-29caf2d651dd

Unfortunately the fall out from this current energy crisis is going to have a lasting effect. 
Questions are going to be aksed why so many energy suppliers have failed, in turn Ofgem will no doubt tighten up on new entrants to the market, meaning less suppliers overall and higher prices than what we have seen the last decade.

On top of this there will be costs to cover these failures, SOLR will be compensated for having to honour customer credit from failed suppliers, it all means higher prices going forward even when wholesale costs return back to long term averages.

The article however does fit with my view, that current wholesale is well above where it should be, a long cold winter is already priced in and come March the only way for prices is down.

The cap will still rise by double digit percent points, but fixes will be cheaper than they are today, and back below the cap, as futures become lower.