Energy news in general

[Deleted User]

Ofgem - ringmaster or clown? It's certainly a circus.

See also FCA. (Always a bad sign when an organisation changes its name).

[Deleted User]

See this thread for the latest SoLR awards/poison chalices

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6310813/ofgem-appoints-solrs-for-customers-of-cng-ma-energy-omni-energy-zebra-ampower-bluegreen#latest

jimjames

Grumpy_chap said:

Not strictly an energy matter, but the Government still seem to be intent on driving towards competition in the consumer water market.  Will the proven "success" of energy competition influence that path?
Given that none of us know, this has to remain a rhetorical question I suppose.

Interested to know where you've heard that from. I've not seen anything that suggests they are looking at household competition at the moment. The savings are tiny compared to energy and the commercial market hasn't really been a massive success.

jimjames

Deleted_User said:

Can I just say, that what the powers that be, suppliers, and Ofgem, tend to forget, or ignore, is the cost of the stress caused to customers by all this palaver. Not to mention the cost of the time eaten up by the process. Don’t know about you, but I am having to spend an inordinate amount of time on all this, what with emails, telephone calls and budgeting calculations, and follow ups. I certainly have better uses for that time, especially at my time of life. So another thing is the age range of customers - possibly the older end of the spectrum have less inclination or digital ability (not always) to deal with the constantly changing situation, which then leads to the probable involvement of family and friends as a knock on effect. 

Curious what you are spending the time doing or worrying about? My supplier went bust last month, I've not had to do anything other than read the meter. Certainly nothing to worry about as it all happens in the background.

[Deleted User]

@jimjames Thanks for the empathy. I do hope everything stays fine for you and yours. 

jimjames

Deleted_User said:

@jimjames Thanks for the empathy. I do hope everything stays fine for you and yours. 

It was a genuine question but fair enough. I try to only worry about things I can control to avoid stressing unnecessarily. The transfer will happen when it happens, not anything I can do to change that and phoning them isn't going to make any difference other than causing me hassle. As someone who regularly reads the meters it's probably less of a surprise to me as I know exactly what I'm using.

wittynamegoeshere

jimjames said:

Deleted_User said:

@jimjames Thanks for the empathy. I do hope everything stays fine for you and yours. 

It was a genuine question but fair enough. I try to only worry about things I can control to avoid stressing unnecessarily. The transfer will happen when it happens, not anything I can do to change that and phoning them isn't going to make any difference other than causing me hassle. As someone who regularly reads the meters it's probably less of a surprise to me as I know exactly what I'm using.

Putting it bluntly though, you (we) are not normal!

Most people just rely on the bills from their supplier, may have switched once or twice and probably don't even know how to read their own meter.

This self-selecting forum of online energy nerds is not representative of the general population.

[Deleted User]

@jimjames Fair enough, but do you know what might happen to the market, or when your supplier might cease trading, leaving you to chase 3 credit balances at once, from faceless multinational corporations that don’t give a monkey’s? Or when you might pop your clogs? 

Trite aphorisms, and recommending Buddhism and yoga do not pay the bills. Why SHOULD I have to wait a year for this to be resolved. Would it take a year if I owed money to them? 

In short, different strokes. 

[Deleted User]

@jimjames I would quote you the example of a lady on the Ofgem twitter feed, but I don't want to publish it without permission. Suffice to say that the poor woman is in tears about the whole issue. 

[Deleted User]

Misleading switching information from the DWP, as per Martin’s latest newsletter.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2021/11/10m-households-wrongly-told-they-can-save-p290-by-switching-to-t/