Anyone else feeling a little sick right now

johnbhoy70

Vegastare said:

Just listened again ( I saved it for partner to listen to) and the Chairman said that in in the winter of 2020 the amount of energy you got for £50 in the winter of 2020 was 11 days with the new price cap on 1st Oct 2022 that will drop to 3and half days energy for £50 then on the current projection in January 2023 that will drop down to 2.8 days.

I have written it as I heard it - sorry about the previous way which was alarming to me - but this above it still scary - but listening to him again it is so confusing - in my defence at 7.15 am I am not at my best, as not had my quota of tea.

I'm guessing your hearing isn't the problem but the explanation by that guy!!  It's not why we're here but it's why a lot of people just aren't getting it and it's not them fully at fault here. 

littlemissbossy

On my energy suppliers website (Octopus) it shows me a best guess estimate of my monthly bills with the price rises factored in, for January 2023 it shows a monthly bill of £450!  I used to pay £900 per year, I've been putting money away every month this year to try and help going forward.

Micky99

I'm probably being very naive, but why can't the Government tell Ofgem to freeze the price cap at its present level until inflation has been brought down? After all the energy companies are making huge profits and paying their shareholders, so surely they could absorb the increase in energy prices temporarily. And, Rishi Sunak has frozen the income tax threshold until 2026, so freezing monetary levels is not impossible.

pochase

The energy suppliers are not making profit. Their profit margin is 2.2% and that is dictated by Ofgem, build into the cap. You are talking about energy producers, which are completely separate entities. 

So if they have to buy energy for a fraction of what they get paid for it they will just go bust. If all of them go bust you will not get any energy.  

The government cannot freeze the prices on the world market.

MattMattMattUK

Micky99 said:

I'm probably being very naive, but why can't the Government tell Ofgem to freeze the price cap at its present level until inflation has been brought down?

All the energy providers would go bust, there would be no gas or electricity as we would not be able to buy it on the open market, the lights would go out, the economy would collapse.

Micky99 said:

After all the energy companies are making huge profits and paying their shareholders,

Exploration and extraction companies are making higher profits than in 2020/2021, that is not really the greatest measure however. They are taxed at 30% normally and next year they will be taxed at 55%, however those are global companies being taxed on their global operations so the situation is far more complicated.

Micky99 said:

so surely they could absorb the increase in energy prices temporarily. 

Firstly why should they? Secondly, forcing UK based companies to lose money to benefit the UK government, whilst penalising them based on their global operations would kill all foreign investment in the UK overnight, the UK would be a lot poorer in the long run.

Micky99 said:

And, Rishi Sunak has frozen the income tax threshold until 2026, so freezing monetary levels is not impossible.

I froze some chicken, I did not freeze strawberries, custard is a bit yellow. Connecting things together just because they both contain the word freeze does not make sense. We also already have the largest tax free allowance either in the EU, or of any major economy so allowing the threshold to be eroded by inflation is actually sensible. 

BUFF

Micky99 said:

I'm probably being very naive, but why can't the Government tell Ofgem to freeze the price cap at its present level until inflation has been brought down? After all the energy companies are making huge profits and paying their shareholders, so surely they could absorb the increase in energy prices temporarily. And, Rishi Sunak has frozen the income tax threshold until 2026, so freezing monetary levels is not impossible.

The domestic energy retailers are not making huge profits - they are limited to a 2% profit margin. The reason that 28 went bust last year was that they were forced to sell energy below cost to them because of the cap (& the costs of those bankruptcies are now being passed on to customers via the standing charge). Do you want to see more of the remaining firms go?

The energy producing companies are making huge profits currently but these are huge global companies, reporting global figures & not the companies actually supplying your house. 

EDF in France is currently suing the French govt for ~£7 billion for losses due to very similar to what you are suggesting.

PennyForThem_2

If you feel sick, for most ppl they won't suffer too much if you turn off the CH and keep to summer times for heating water.  UK only really got CH in early 50's and only then for ppl who could afford it.  

Yes, yes I know how 'warm' it can be - got CH in early 70's.  But if you wrap up warm, draught proof where possible, double glaze or equivalent then mostly you will have an acceptable in-house temperature but not one you can wear a t-shirt and short in winter.

(I understand that there are some medical conditions for which this is not appropriate - in pre CH days you probably did not do that well)

jackieblack

Also, in pre-CH days, more people had alternative means of heating their water and rooms. I remember before my grandparents had CH installed they had open fires in their living room and bedroom and a wood-fired boiler in the kitchen.

BUFF

jackieblack said:

Also, in pre-CH days, more people had alternative means of heating their water and rooms. I remember before my grandparents had CH installed they had open fires in their living room and bedroom and a wood-fired boiler in the kitchen.

Neither of those would be recommended now on both health (particulates etc.) & climate change grounds.

EssexHebridean

pochase said:

EssexHebridean said:

Mstty said:

Vegastare said:

The head of supplier Utilita spoke on Breakfast time and it really brought it home.
He says that £50 of energy will equate to 11 days of energy come October and I think he then said come Jan 2023 it would be the equivalent of 3 days energy.  If he is correct that is beyond alarming.  ( that was my understanding of what he said)

He also made it clear that the meeting this morning is not retailers of energy ie those we pay but the producers.
Yesterday I thought it was the retailers.......this energy system in the UK is ludicrous

Yes that is alarmist. At most if it is 11 days now with the April price cap it means 5 days in April. Still shocking but if the head of Utilita can't even get it right that's shocking lol.

Have you SEEN Utilita's prices though? (I'm assuming they are as grim for single rate electric as they are for E7, anyway!) 

Are you looking at  the rate for the first 2KWh maybe? They put the standing charge on the first 2 KWh for some tariffs and claim the have no standing charges. From the 3. KWh the rates are much lower.

In fairness It had been a while since I'd last looked - and yes, they do look rather more reasonable even for E7 now than they used to! (In fact, the night rate for our area is almost tempting....although I suspect we'll still be better with our GEUK fix!)