Energy news in general

GingerTim

Ed Miliband on Today sounding very much like he is not in favour of zonal pricing (while emphasising that no decision has been made).

The_Green_Hornet

GingerTim said:

Ed Miliband on Today sounding very much like he is not in favour of zonal pricing (while emphasising that no decision has been made).

It is interesting how the story is spun depending on who is spoken to and who publishes it.

For instance Octopus have it creating a £55 billion saving.

Zonal pricing to slash more than £55bn off energy bills, major new report finds | Octopus Energy

Whereas the Independent claims that the plans have been dubbed “madness” by Labour donor and eco-tycoon Dale Vince, who warned it would create “complexity, delays and unfairness.

Miliband confirms he could charge homes in the South more for electricity

I think this will be another subject to add to Standing Charges and Smart Meters for getting MSE regulars hot under the collar.

MeteredOut

GingerTim said:

Ed Miliband on Today sounding very much like he is not in favour of zonal pricing (while emphasising that no decision has been made).

No politician will back a scheme which benefits some more than others, even if everyone would benefit more than the status quo.

A significantly vocal minority of the UK population would not accept that unless they were the ones who benefited the most. MSE via its media facing arm would probably jump on the bandwagon about the unfairness. It would be SC2.0.

Scot_39

That would be octopus energy- a firm that contains its own renewables generator.

Suppliers in general likely only too keen to build more on shore where been defacto blocked for over a decade.  And make higher margins for years whilst building that capacity in higher prices (due to demand vs generation/ grid imbalance) in some areas.

Ildhund

A rap over the knuckles for dodgy advertising:

Octopus Energy Ltd - ASA | CAP 

debitcardmayhem

If the cap fits https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy5r190y3kko

MattMattMattUK

debitcardmayhem said:

If the cap fits https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy5r190y3kko

Reading the comments on that article show just how uneducated the general public are, which we often see on here as well. One has to wonder if there is any way that the energy suppliers and/or the government could win with the general public, it seems that even if energy was given away for free the general public would then start complaining that they were not paid to use energy. 

MeteredOut

MattMattMattUK said:

debitcardmayhem said:

If the cap fits https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy5r190y3kko

Reading the comments on that article show just how uneducated the general public are, which we often see on here as well. One has to wonder if there is any way that the energy suppliers and/or the government could win with the general public, it seems that even if energy was given away for free the general public would then start complaining that they were not paid to use energy. 

I'm not sure if I enjoy or hate reading those comments.  One one exteme, I'm wanting to shout at the screen, but at the other, it provides a massive level of entertainment.

I liked particularly liked this regarding the standing charge

"They are the biggest rip off going, the pipes have been laid years ago, does not cost anything now to supply the customer."

Chrysalis

victor2 said:

MattMattMattUK said:

The_Green_Hornet said:

More British households struggling with bills will resort to energy theft, campaigners say

Annual value of gas and electricity stolen from Great Britain’s grids already estimated at £1.5bn

The number of British households stealing about £1.5bn of gas and electricity every year is expected to rise as energy bill bad debts continue to set new records, according to fuel poverty campaigners.

The energy industry has warned that “desperate” households who are unable to pay their bills are increasingly resorting to tampering with their gas and electricity meters to avoid falling deeper into debt.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2025/apr/22/british-households-struggling-with-bills-will-resort-energy-theft

That article points out that those stealing from the network cost every household around £50 per year, other estimates put it at £70-90 per year. On top of that those who refuse to pay their energy bills cost us another £120 per year from the bad debts. son in effect around £200 of the "average" user's bill, or around 12% of the bill of those of us who pay is because of other people's criminality or refusal to pay what they owe. 

With the spiralling costs of energy, the problem is destined to increase too. The odd house exlosion, and all too often associated fatality, is likely to become more common if they are due to gas leaks caused by tampering wth the supply. I might be making false assumptions there because you rarely hear any conclusive evidence, but equally you don't get the gas supplier blamed for leaks and subsequent disasters.

According to some electricians on social media its not uncommon for them to come across bypassed meters, of course its potentially lies to get clicks.

Chrysalis

MattMattMattUK said:

debitcardmayhem said:

If the cap fits https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy5r190y3kko

Reading the comments on that article show just how uneducated the general public are, which we often see on here as well. One has to wonder if there is any way that the energy suppliers and/or the government could win with the general public, it seems that even if energy was given away for free the general public would then start complaining that they were not paid to use energy. 

On the anger aimed at Ofgem, its justifiable, they have been awful.  Not just in the decision making, but also promoting bad ways of presenting energy costs such as averaged out annual cost instead of plain unit rate and standing charge.  So its a mixture of people not understanding things, and bewilderment of who Ofgem is supposed to be there for, most consumers typically rightly or wrongly see a regulator there to protect them, not the companies they are regulating..
On the energy cost of side of things, it is also understandable people are not happy that higher costs have become normalised.  Again looking at communications, what actual plan is there for all this stuff to be fixed, and has it been communicated out in a good way to the wider public?  Or is Ofgem e.g. satisfied as long as the supplier margins are within an acceptable rate on regulated tariffs.
The way to win is to bring energy costs down substantially (for everyone not just a couple of zones) and improve the regulator's performance. 
As before this will be my only post to avoid a political exchange.