Anybody on a communal or district heating system - unregulated monopoly - how will this affect you?

annetheman

I’m with Insite Energy in a leasehold block. I have no option to change supplier. 

They provide heating and hot water to the block and set the tariffs for the communal heating system; companies like this are not regulated by OFGEM or any other group. 

I have no idea how the prices will change given the increased electricity wholesale cost. No communications. 

I’d be interested to know if anyone else has had any communication from their supplier in a similar system?

GingerTim

Yes - I'm expecting the kwh price when our contract is renewed in December to be about 16p+ per unit. Our district heating system is powered by gas.

That said, my place is that well insulated and the windows that thick that the heating is rarely needed, so despite it all I feel quite fortunate - even though I will be paying much more for what I do use.

We don't have direct communication with the supplier, rather it's the management company that arrange the contract.

annetheman

GingerTim said:

Yes - I'm expecting the kwh price when our contract is renewed in December to be about 16p+ per unit. Our district heating system is powered by gas.

That said, my place is that well insulated and the windows that thick that the heating is rarely needed, so despite it all I feel quite fortunate - even though I will be paying much more for what I do use.

We don't have direct communication with the supplier, rather it's the management company that arrange the contract.

Thanks, that's useful to know! I don't get any bills and the Insite website is so crap I can't even see the cost per kWh. I do know it is cheap - I was topping up £10 a month all winter and managed to get through (similarly insulation makes it like a greenhouse, not so fun right now, great for winter bills)... They haven't communicated anything about increases.

Did they write to you to tell you thi was happening?

Thanks!

GingerTim

The management company send us a bill each month which we then clear, but their communication is otherwise pretty terrible - but when I wrote to them last year they provided the unit rate change quite promptly. I'll write to them again, probably next month, to see if they can give me an idea of the rate for the next twelve months. 

I'm currently paying £10/ month through
Ghost spring and summer, and was nearer £20 during winter. I expect both those figures to double, but it could be far worse!

Comheat

My mum has to pay communal heating, it has gone up to £33 per week. She barely uses it. There is no device to show how much she is using. It is very unfair. It also costs in electricity. So last month she was charged £143... the smart meter shows £12 on the electricity for only hot water (separate electric count for heating according to smart meter). This is very high for someone who barely uses the heating. She is basically paying for everyone else's heating. There needs to be some sort of meter to accurately measure what is used. (The £33 is after a £6 reduction from some support scheme)

Gerry1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80320798