Why are standing charges going up?

flemillo

I've just received my new list of charges from my energy provider (Shell Energy) now that my fixed tariff is ending. I notice that not only are the fuel charges going up, but so are the standing charges. Surely the standing charges cover the cost of delivery of energy, i.e. poles and wires, gas pipelines etc and not the energy itself? Here is what Shell has said: Your electricity rates will change from 20.871p to 29.239p per kWh and your standing charge per day will change from 24.01p to 37.92p.

How can they possibly justify an increase in electricity standing charges by such a huge amount? Also, I know that electricity prices are set with reference to gas prices, but since we get a significant amount of our electricity from renewables, surely this should be a lot cheaper and should not have gone up at all? I feel like we're being scammed here.

MSE_James

Hello - our team have tried to answer this question here:
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/what-is-the-energy-price-cap/#accordion-content-0336620245-1  

We've also moved the thread to our main Energy board