Energy news in general

EssexHebridean

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81962207#Comment_81962207

Oh good - that's the entertainment then - and best of all, the rest of us will be able to stick the kettle on for nothing and make a cuppa while we enjoy it!

TroubledTarts

Still baffles me refuseniks.

We have an electrician next door won't get a smart meter and we use roughly the same electricity each year, both properties with ASHP.

I have given up showing him the savings and then laugh inside when he moans about the cost of living

Lorian

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81961962#Comment_81961962

According to BBC

"Companies that have signed up to the scheme so far include British Gas, Equiwatt and Octopus Energy, NESO said."

So it must be some V2 of the scheme

QrizB

Still baffles me refuseniks.

We occasionally hear people complaining "where are the lower electricity prices that all these changes were meant to bring" when Ofgem revise their default tariff cap.

But the SVT isn't generally going to be a cheap tariff, it's just a safety net for people who can't or won't choose anything else.

For the last 5+ years there have been smart tariffs, open to people with smart meters, that will save most people money over the SVT if people are willing to put in a little bit of effort.

The cheaper prices are out there. You just need to look for them.

Scot_39

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81961962#Comment_81961962

And I'd be willing to bet - despite being on a tariff as an all electric home with conventional electric heating - so in general a heavier electricity user than many duel fuel homes - certainly likely a heavier peak user (my 3 NSH and HW immersion pull 10kW if all 4 on simultaneously - EOn will not open up any options to benefit for those on E10 - even those on E10 smart meters (8 years and counting).

Although I suspect to be fair that could need a Snug like rescheduling of the 10 hours off peak for homes like mine still using meter ALCS.

Even in summer my HW pulls 3kW for 15-20 min - 3 times per day - but thats ALCS controlled - however a similar large load - my shower is not - so 9.5kW for 10-15 mins etc

(So if shower in off peak - and I do many days - my home might pull 20kW peak - on it's 100A fuse)

QrizB

Here's a BBC article - there was a thread about it earlier, but it seems to have vanished.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c86ey5n9vx9o

The article is premised on the idea that "electricity is too expensive" and this is discouraging people from giving up on fossil fuels (gas for heating, petrol & diesel for transport).

The problem is that the idea is bunkum.

For road transport, a 45mpg car is currently costing about 15p a mile in petrol (or 19p a mile in diesel). A 3-miles-per-kWh car that's charged at home costs 8p per mile on the capped SVT or under 3p on an EV tariff.

For heating, it's a little more complicated. A home using the Ofgem average amount of gas, 11500kWh, and burning it all in a 90% efficient boiler, is receiving 10350kWh of usable heat. Their gas bill on the current capped SVT will be £776. Obtaining 10350kWh of heat via a heat pump with a COP of 3 will require 3450kWh of electricity, which on the SVT will cost £851. That's roughly 10% more than the equivalent gas cost.

But - there are plenty of tariffs for heat pump users which can work out a lot cheaper than the SVT. Just for example, Cosy Octopus is around 15p/kWh, about 40% cheaper than the SVT. Yes you'll pay a bit more for your electricity outside the Cosy off-peak periods, but you'll still work out ahead.

Consider the Ofgem average home using 2700kWh of electricity for non-heating purposes. The SVT cap is £1641 a year. If that home used 3450kWh of Cosy electricity at 15p/kWh and all 2700kWh of non-heating electricity at the daytime rate of 33p/kWh, the annual bill (incl. standing charge) would be £1582. £60 less than the capped SVT.

Getting back to the BBC article, it opens with an account from a retiree with solar, battery and heat pump who finds themselves using their gas boiler because their electricity is too expensive. But they're paying 27p/kWh for their electricity! There's no good reason for anyone in that situation to pay that much. There are plenty of heat pump owners in this forum and I don't think any of them pay that much? Some (particularly those with solar and a battery) pay significantly less, under 10p/kWh.

I don't have a heat pump but my solar, battery and EV tariff combination saw me paying less than 8p/kWh on average during January.

BBC - I'm giving your article a "D", please try harder in future.

JKenH

I originally posted this on the Green and Ethical board but decided it was perhaps more relevant here. I have left a link to this page on the G&E board but please leave any comments on this thread rather than the G&E board.

A couple of days ago an article in the Guardian suggested that renewables generators would face an increased windfall tax and yesterday shares in renewables companies such as UKWind and SSEN fell. (FWIW I took the opportunity to top up my UKW holding as I believe legacy wind contracts are still a gold mine.) Today I heard on the news that HMG will announce plans to decouple electricity prices from gas, which according to this Guardian article will save householders £80 a year. Surely it must be more than that - wasn’t an £300 cut in energy bills promised by 2030. If decoupling from gas prices is only saving £80 where will the other £220 saving come from.

Rachel Reeves to raise windfall tax on low-carbon electricity generators

Rachel Reeves is poised to raise the government’s windfall tax on low-carbon electricity generators to help limit UK household energy bills, the Guardian understands.

The chancellor is ready to hike the levy introduced in 2022 to target the excess profits made by the owners of older renewable energy and nuclear plants as electricity market prices soared after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

She could announce the plans to raise the so-called electricity generator levy as early as Tuesday, alongside a consultation on “radical” proposals to permanently weaken the link between soaring gas market prices and the cost of Britain’s electricity for the long term.

A separate proposal set out by the Stonehaven consultant Adam Bell, the government’s former head of strategy at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, includes the “radical step” of removing gas plants from the market and holding them in strategic reserve to be fired up when needed without distorting the overall cost of electricity in the wholesale market.

Bell said the plan, which could take £80 a year off energy bills, would be “a transfer of value from producers to consumers to a degree we haven’t seen for 20 to 30 years” by helping consumers to benefit from the energy transition.

Rachel Reeves to raise windfall tax on low-carbon electricity generators | Energy industry | The Guardian

JKenH

More on this story in the Guardian today

“The Treasury will increase a windfall tax on excess profits made by electricity generators in Great Britain from 45% to 55% when gas prices spike. The funds raised will help the government to support households during an energy crisis.

The owners of “legacy” renewable energy projects, such as older wind and solar farms, that earn subsidies on top of the market price, will face the higher tax rate from July unless they sign up to contracts that pay a set price for electricity. The move is part of the government’s plan to “delink” the price of electricity from the price of gas.

Since late 2022, generators have faced a 45% tax rate on electricity sold at market prices above £75 a megawatt hour through the EGL put in place after the war in Ukraine led to record gas market prices across Europe.”

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/apr/21/uk-shifts-older-wind-and-solar-farms-to-fixed-price-deals-to-reduce-price-shocks

Scot_39

Assuming this is a tweek to 2023 EGL - see link below.

The £75 was to became indexed from 2024 on - and the EGL levy was originally put in place to 2028 - under last admin.

Anc didnt just apply to renewables - but I guess low carbon might encompass others using points basis for imported biomass - waste ?.

"The levy will be applied to companies or groups generating electricity from nuclear, renewable, biomass, and energy from waste sources."

After IIRC came after months of failing to renegotiate new contract terms with likely the same legacy suppliers. So backdated to start of 2023. And I doubt an extra 10% on marginal upper rate will shift many. So I wouldnt guarantee it as a done deal just yet.

The full details, including some important thresholds / caveats, of original 2023 scheme here.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/electricity-generator-levy-introduction/electricity-generator-levy/

The threshold £75+ for clearly already deliverable energy in the main z interesting in context of recent govt pricing - if look purely from an electricity consumers point of view..

As just a few months ago, it was decided to award upto £91.20 /MWh at 2024 indexing - so that clearly considered an acceptible price for offshore contracts in recent Auction Round 7.

And that £91.20 excluding any further network costs - adding significant £10s bns over last and several years to come as installation speeds up to connect and deliver it.

GingerTim

Press release about changes to Ofgem's remit from https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ofgem-transformed-to-strengthen-protections-for-energy-consumers

Ofgem transformed to strengthen protections for energy consumers

Billpayers are set to benefit from a stronger energy regulator, under reforms of its remit set out by the government today (22 April). 

The transformation will empower the regulator to ensure energy consumers are treated fairly, including measures to guarantee good practice in the market. This is the first major update to Ofgem’s scope since the regulator was founded in 2000. 

The comprehensive overhaul will give Ofgem new powers to act as a true consumer champion, including: 

1. Stronger powers for the regulator to enforce consumer law directly, meaning it will no longer need to go through a lengthy courts process to make sure customers get what they are owed if companies treat them unfairly; 
2. Measures to ensure energy bosses act on behalf of consumers, with powers for Ofgem to ban their bonuses if they break the rules;  
3. Reforms to the regulator’s remit to focus on economic and consumer protection and ensure every energy consumer is protected, including the ability to regulate in new areas of the market if needed. 

Since Ofgem was established, the market has grown more complex, with a wider range of products and services for consumers to choose from – with growing numbers of customers in parts of the market which are covered by little, if any, regulation. 

That includes heating oil customers, who have seen prices spike following the start of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Last month the government announced funding worth over £50 million to support low-income families reliant on heating oil, and committed to introducing new consumer protections to the sector.  

The changes announced today mark another step in that process, transforming Ofgem so that it is fit for the future and can ensure all consumers in today’s energy market are supported.