Shell Energy price rise

QrizB

Phlik said:

Elisheba said:

Phlik said:

The utility companies are losing money every second of every day, why do you think 30 have gone bust? 

Pretty certain its because most of the newer ones were running what essentially amounts a legalised Ponzi scheme, and had absolutely no capacity to tolerate wholesale energy price increases.

There may have been a handful of suppliers operating out of their bedrooms supplying 1000 or so customers each that fit that description, but the likes of bulb, green, avro etc with 100000+ customers each (1000000+ in bulbs case) do not fit that description.

There's a ten-page thread discussing how under-capitalised Avro was, so that might not be the slam-dunk argument you think it is.

MattMattMattUK

QrizB said:

Phlik said:

Elisheba said:

Phlik said:

The utility companies are losing money every second of every day, why do you think 30 have gone bust? 

Pretty certain its because most of the newer ones were running what essentially amounts a legalised Ponzi scheme, and had absolutely no capacity to tolerate wholesale energy price increases.

There may have been a handful of suppliers operating out of their bedrooms supplying 1000 or so customers each that fit that description, but the likes of bulb, green, avro etc with 100000+ customers each (1000000+ in bulbs case) do not fit that description.

There's a ten-page thread discussing how under-capitalised Avro was, so that might not be the slam-dunk argument you think it is.

Some were under capitalised, but the reality is there are very few companies that can survive being forced to sell their product at below cost for a significant period of time. Even those that mad significant hedges will likely only have done to the end of batches of customers fixed tariffs and not hedged against being forced to sell at the price cap for less than they could buy at, for months, and now potentially more than a year. 

Some suppliers were obviously run badly, others were unable to survive no matter what they did, those that are currently still in business are haemorrhaging billions and even they will have a limit to how long they can survive with the government breaking the market. 

Elisheba

Phlik said:

Elisheba said:

Phlik said:

The utility companies are losing money every second of every day, why do you think 30 have gone bust? 

Pretty certain its because most of the newer ones were running what essentially amounts a legalised Ponzi scheme, and had absolutely no capacity to tolerate wholesale energy price increases.

 

There may have been a handful of suppliers operating out of their bedrooms supplying 1000 or so customers each that fit that description, but the likes of bulb, green, avro etc with 100000+ customers each (1000000+ in bulbs case) do not fit that description.

However you're entitled to your opinion no matter how wrong it is.

It was Bulb I was specifically talking about, although I am sure others were based on similar business models https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/nov/22/greenwashing-bulb-energy-critics-collapse-coming

Phlik

Elisheba said:

Phlik said:

Elisheba said:

Phlik said:

The utility companies are losing money every second of every day, why do you think 30 have gone bust? 

Pretty certain its because most of the newer ones were running what essentially amounts a legalised Ponzi scheme, and had absolutely no capacity to tolerate wholesale energy price increases.

 

There may have been a handful of suppliers operating out of their bedrooms supplying 1000 or so customers each that fit that description, but the likes of bulb, green, avro etc with 100000+ customers each (1000000+ in bulbs case) do not fit that description.

However you're entitled to your opinion no matter how wrong it is.

It was Bulb I was specifically talking about, although I am sure others were based on similar business models https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/nov/22/greenwashing-bulb-energy-critics-collapse-coming

It doesn't really matter, if government legislation forces you to sell your product at a loss (a big loss as it turns out) then eventually you are going to run out of money.  The remaining players haven't run out of money, yet.

jimjames

Mark18pll said:

I understand the costs are going up but what i dont understand is why standing charges can differ significantly between providers. My understanding is that the standing charge is basically for maintenance, so why would this nearly double for electricity or have i missed something?

Standing charges don't significantly differ between providers. They differ more between regions. Unless you have a quote from multiple providers for the SVT for your area that you can show vastly different standing charges I don't think it's actually a correct assertion.