Energy news in general

wrf12345

The UK is getting more like a third world country - many countries have different amperage ratings for different meters, so low users have the option of low or zero s/c plus low unit rate but can only consume a small amount of energy whilst larger energy users pay higher rates and s/c. Accidentally, making it cheap for low users also makes it fair in a Green way, which would get the energy secretary all excited. In Smart Meter terms that probably translates to TOU with zero s/c and four times the unit rate during the peak period. Loading the gas unit rate up with green tax and getting rid of its s/c is probably another step forward to a Green Utopia but it may have people running around like headless chickens when freezing denizens opt for a fur coats to keep warm.

debitcardmayhem

QrizB said:

MeteredOut said:

But, the US has a completely different energy market, and how that market splits its bills between what it calls energy used and what it calls surcharges has no bearing on the market here. The overall cost people pay is probably slight more relevant, but not in any meaningful way.

If the UK moved to a US-style model it would just rearrange the where the costs fell.

Take the curent price cap as an example. 25.73p/kWh and 51.37p/day SC for the median TDCV of 2700kWh/yr works out as £694.71 for energy used and £187.50 for SC.

If we cut 15p off the unit price, so 10.73p/kWh, the energy cost would fall by £405/yr to £289.71 but the SC would increase by the same amount to £592.50/yr, £1.62 a day.

I can already imagine the outcry from certain regulars on this forum!

No need to imagine any longer 😎

Scot_39

wrf12345 said:

The UK is getting more like a third world country - many countries have different amperage ratings for different meters, so low users have the option of low or zero s/c plus low unit rate but can only consume a small amount of energy whilst larger energy users pay higher rates and s/c. Accidentally, making it cheap for low users also makes it fair in a Green way, which would get the energy secretary all excited. In Smart Meter terms that probably translates to TOU with zero s/c and four times the unit rate during the peak period. Loading the gas unit rate up with green tax and getting rid of its s/c is probably another step forward to a Green Utopia but it may have people running around like headless chickens when freezing denizens opt for a fur coats to keep warm.

Except if Miliband et al met their target of 90% plus renewables generation - in short term (was it 2030) - on way to net zero by 2050 - their will no longer be a significant green cost of consuming higher electric.

Only target therefore is in constraining domestic emissions from gas appliances.

Which is why its been muted for years to move levies more or purely onto gas.

And being cycnical - to make gas more expensive - so the current at least increased costs of net zero on our electric - don't really suffer by comparison.

mmmmikey

This has the potential to be contentious

BBC News - Lower energy costs make retirement less expensive - BBC News

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj42022gqzwo

So basically it seems to confirm the WFA is not really needed universally and standing charges are not the big issue with old folk that we thought.....

The_Green_Hornet

mmmmikey said:

This has the potential to be contentious

BBC News - Lower energy costs make retirement less expensive - BBC News

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj42022gqzwo

So basically it seems to confirm the WFA is not really needed universally and standing charges are not the big issue with old folk that we thought.....

A study that includes £507 for footwear each year, £103 for perfume/aftershave, and £26 every 6 weeks for male beauty treatments tells us something but I'm not sure what it is.

2024_research_report.pdf

Ildhund

The_Green_Hornet said:
A study that includes £507 for footwear each year ...

The item that caught my eye when I had a look last year at the survival requirements of a single male pensioner like me was that I should be buying 10 pairs of pants a year. I looked again this morning - I'm now expected to need 14 pairs each year. 

There are plenty more equally fanciful entries in that comprehensive table.

mmmmikey

The_Green_Hornet said:

mmmmikey said:

This has the potential to be contentious

BBC News - Lower energy costs make retirement less expensive - BBC News

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj42022gqzwo

So basically it seems to confirm the WFA is not really needed universally and standing charges are not the big issue with old folk that we thought.....

A study that includes £507 for footwear each year, £103 for perfume/aftershave, and £26 every 6 weeks for male beauty treatments tells us something but I'm not sure what it is.

2024_research_report.pdf

Yes - people obviously have very different expectations! I think the authors of the report should spend some time reading the moneysavingexpertforums - as should anyone spending £507 a year on shoes.....

MeteredOut

mmmmikey said:

This has the potential to be contentious

BBC News - Lower energy costs make retirement less expensive - BBC News

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj42022gqzwo

So basically it seems to confirm the WFA is not really needed universally and standing charges are not the big issue with old folk that we thought.....

Brilliant rage-baiting from the BBC. I just knew it was going to be an article with the comments turned on.

wrf12345

Got to laugh, govn says more pensioners to get the winter fuel payment this winter but they won't say on what basis, presumably because they have yet to work out how to suss household income on the Revenue's computer systems. Logically, because they can also get Green Grants, it would be (pensioner) households with an income of under 31k but that might be too generous for our lovely chancellor. My bet, at the end of the day the govn will be paying out more than if they left the original system alone (lots of other goodies for those on pension credit) but that will stay a State secret.

Ildhund

mmmmikey said:

...  the WFA is not really needed universally ...

I've been looking for a report about the 4000 old folk who were doomed to freeze to death last winter because their WFP was taken away. I haven't found one ...

<pedant_alert>
All the gov.uk stuff about the Winter Fuel Payment that I've come across calls it the Winter Fuel Payment, sometimes abbreviated to WFP.  I don't know where 'WFA' comes from, but it's irritatingly common. 
</pedant_alert>