Energy news in general

bristolleedsfan

HillStreetBlues said:

bristolleedsfan said:

HillStreetBlues said:

bristolleedsfan said:

Which means tested benefits are tied to household income? ie. whole household, including working adults.

Universal Credit

It's not tied to the whole household only the claimant(s).

Tied to household income ???

The meaning of household is all those in the house, others adults may well be in the household (eg adult children) but won't form part of the UC claim.
Sadly DWP wording isn't the best at times.

• Non-Dependants:

  If you have non-dependants living with you (adults who are not your partner and don't pay rent), their contributions to household expenses might affect your housing costs element. 

HillStreetBlues

bristolleedsfan said:

HillStreetBlues said:

bristolleedsfan said:

HillStreetBlues said:

bristolleedsfan said:

Which means tested benefits are tied to household income? ie. whole household, including working adults.

Universal Credit

It's not tied to the whole household only the claimant(s).

Tied to household income ???

The meaning of household is all those in the house, others adults may well be in the household (eg adult children) but won't form part of the UC claim.
Sadly DWP wording isn't the best at times.

• Non-Dependants:

  If you have non-dependants living with you (adults who are not your partner and don't pay rent), their contributions to household expenses might affect your housing costs element. 

But they are still not part of  the claim. The Non Dependants could be millionaires, their wealth doesn't affect the claim.

Doc_N

I've got a great idea - just count the number of windows and base the charge on that.  We could call it the Window Tax.

Wait..............

HillStreetBlues

Doc_N said:

I've got a great idea - just count the number of windows and base the charge on that.  We could call it the Window Tax.

Wait..............

Damn wish I hadn't updated from 10 to 11.

HillStreetBlues

wrf12345 said:

Just Ofgem finding ways to fill the energy company coffers, again, rather than admitting they made a terrible mistake increasing the s/c by such a huge amount rather than phasing it out. Again, energy companies are buying electric wholesale and selling it on with a 2.2-2.5 multiple, so making them absorb the cost of s/c phase out is the best way to go, say twenty percent drop in s/c every year until it is zero, with the possibility of them paying back some of the money they have taken over the decades via a negative s/c once that is done. Phasing out Ofgem as well would save a bit of dosh.

If they do go for zero s/c for the low paid it will probably be done by applying via the energy company, perhaps after generating a confirmation number from the inland revenue or council (who can access the revenue's databases to some extent even though it is possibly illegal under data protection laws), although the revenue itself does have problems on household income, so if the bill is in the name of a low earner and their partner or kids are on high incomes it might go awry. This would be one tax year behind, I guess.

Change the name of the "Warm Home Discount"  to "Standing Charge Rebate", sorted.

wrf12345

Complete madness at Ofgem, trying to wriggle out of zero s/c's tariffs.

The first step should be to take advantage of falling gas prices to get rid of the gas s/c and increase the unit rate to compensate, the actual unit rate would still go down but not by as much as if the s/c remained the same. This will have the Greenies leaping up and down with excitement as it punishes those who use too much gas and helps the miserly. 

With the electric, just have a zero s/c on (smart) prepayment meters and a slightly higher unit rate, except for those who have racked up debt previously (until it is cleared). The higher unit rate would discourage everyone from switching to prepayment meters and the fact that you have to have a smart meter to get the zero s/c will keep the Greenies happy. Prepayment meters  kinda mirror social status and income and even if a few rich misers jump on the bandwagon it would still be more accurate than alternatives, and easy to implement. The zero s/c would apply from the moment anyone applies to upgrade to a suitable meter, to stop tardiness on the side of the energy companies. As you can't run prepayment meters into debt it would save the companies lotsa dosh going forwards, to compensate for loss of s/c's and also keeps admin overheads to a minimum.

Ildhund

wrf12345 said:

With the electric, just have a zero s/c on (smart) prepayment meters and a slightly higher unit rate, 

For the typical prepayment customer, the unit rate would have to increase by 28% to balance the cost of removing the standing charge. Is this what you mean by 'slightly higher;?

Gerry1

wrf12345 said:

The first step should be to take advantage of falling gas prices to get rid of the gas s/c and increase the unit rate to compensate, the actual unit rate would still go down but not by as much as if the s/c remained the same.

And any supposed benefits (Clue: there aren't any) are all reversed when gas prices rise again, as they undoubtedly will.

wrf12345 said:

...the actual unit rate would still go down but not by as much as if the s/c remained the same. This will have the Greenies leaping up and down with excitement as it punishes those who use too much gas

And punishes poor older people (who are at home all day and feel the cold more) to freezing properties, putting their health and well being at risk.

wrf12345 said:

With the electric(icity), just have a zero s/c on (smart) prepayment meters and a slightly higher unit rate

As with gas, this punishes poor older people (who are at home all day and feel the cold more) to freezing properties, putting their health and well being at risk.

wrf12345 said:

The higher unit rate would discourage everyone from switching to prepayment meters

Many poor people rely on prepayment meters to avoid getting large bills which they can't pay, so you'd plunge them into debt problems.

wrf12345 said:

Prepayment meters kinda mirror social status and income

As above, the most vulnerable will suffer most.

wrf12345 said:

As you can't run prepayment meters into debt

Not true.  Standing charges keep accruing, so for example if you'll be in debt if you don't use gas from May until October and fail to top up.

Scot_39

wrf12345 said:

Complete madness at Ofgem, trying to wriggle out of zero s/c's tariffs.

The zero SC argument has been done to death here.

And we await tge outcome of the last round of consultations AFAIK.

But when even a government regulator like Ofgem can see the fundamental flaws and significant risks - that literally millions of households will need protecting from it - you kind of know its a bad idea.

The year plus of SoLR and failures isn't over.  Energy resellers are clearly not making a fortune.

Anyone who underpays on zero SC contracts means their is a hole in the kitty to be filled.

Which means more cross subsidies.


The real losers were in fact all electric homes - in last years shift £100 examples - let alone the full £200  the 2 ex in tables -  young couple with kid and elderly couple versus similar in dual fuel  - tge young couple lower total kWh use iirc than tge couple with kid with gas.
Which is why the Feb plan was to exclude all electric.   

The_Green_Hornet

Ofgem boss calls for truce in row over electricity market overhaul

Jonathan Brearley wants polarisation to be replaced with an ‘honest conversation’ about zonal pricing

The head of Britain’s energy regulator has called for an industry truce in the deepening row over plans to overhaul the electricity market.

A decision on whether to replace the country’s single electricity market with several market zones, each with their own price, is expected within weeks.

It could mean that homes in areas where there is an abundance of electricity generation will pay lower prices than those in areas of high demand and low generation capacity.

Ofgem boss calls for truce in row over electricity market overhaul | Energy industry | The Guardian