And now the forecasters are saying the price cap could hit £6000

thescouselander

This isn't really news.   I'm with Octopus and they have a tool that forecasts prices which has shown an increase to over £6000 per year for us for a while.

One concern for me is that wholesale futures prices for gas keep going up and there's no sign of a slowdown so I expect the forecasts to go up even further. 

westv

You would have thought that if the UK now had 100% renewable energy everything would be ok but that doesn't seem to be the case considering some suppliers already claim to offer it.

MattMattMattUK

westv said:

You would have thought that if the UK now had 100% renewable energy everything would be ok

It is impractical for the UK to have 100% renewable energy, the amount of storage required to cope with varying production would mean it could never be cost effective. Nuclear is the only way if we want domestic energy security.

westv said:

but that doesn't seem to be the case considering some suppliers already claim to offer it.

Some suppliers do claim that, net they probably do supply 100% zero carbon energy, but that is a net figure, eg. in summer they generate more, in winter far less, more during the day, less at night etc. so the grid still needs fossil fuels to keep the lights on and these are bought at the international market rates which is why prices are increasing. 

westv

MattMattMattUK said:

westv said:

You would have thought that if the UK now had 100% renewable energy everything would be ok

It is impractical for the UK to have 100% renewable energy, the amount of storage required to cope with varying production would mean it could never be cost effective. Nuclear is the only way if we want domestic energy security.

westv said:

but that doesn't seem to be the case considering some suppliers already claim to offer it.

Some suppliers do claim that, net they probably do supply 100% zero carbon energy, but that is a net figure, eg. in summer they generate more, in winter far less, more during the day, less at night etc. so the grid still needs fossil fuels to keep the lights on and these are bought at the international market rates which is why prices are increasing. 

It was "if" we did, not "when we do"

The claims are 100% renewable not 100% zero carbon.

Mstty

The simplistic for those that can is "use less"

Learn what everything costs and put a sticky note on it with the cost and decide if you want to turn it on.

For those that can't there are extra funds and each energy company has their dedicated hardship fund. Plus more help is on the way.

As I have said many times before lots of energy users need this major shock to reduce their energy usage.

fergie_

We simply need to get away from a 'price cap' of £2000, £3000, £6000 etc and focus on unit prices (along with standing charges) and percentage increases.

Too many people think wrongly that they are the average user - the reality is that they can easily be using double or four times the OFGEM definition. They read and hear the 'cap' is going to be £3000, but think "I'm already paying £2800, that's not too bad'. When in reality their next annual bill could be £5.6k.

People will take a lot more notice (just look at petrol / diesel) if we tell them its going from 27.8p a KWh of electricity to say 50p, 60p or even £1. Its also a lot easier to calculate your potential future bills.

QrizB

westv said:

You would have thought that if the UK now had 100% renewable energy everything would be ok but that doesn't seem to be the case considering some suppliers already claim to offer it.

The UK does not have 100% renewable energy. Most of the energy suppliers making these claims are greenwashing.
https://cms.goodenergy.co.uk/greenwash/

The government is looking to stop these claims.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-to-tighten-rules-to-stop-greenwashing-of-electricity-tariffs

Troytempest

I don't hear that other countries in Europe are having this issue to the same extreme that we are predicting. Am I wrong?

pochase

Yes you are wrong.

The big exception "seems" to be France, with a very low electricity increase, but they will be paying higher taxes to make up for government support instead, and the gas prices are also not subsidised the same as electricity.

Most countries don't have something like our cap figure, so it is much harder to point the energy cost to a single figure like we concentrate on.

peterf83

Troytempest said:

I don't hear that other countries in Europe are having this issue to the same extreme that we are predicting. Am I wrong?

We are particularly affected by the gas prices because so much of our electricity is generated by gas. If you go to GB Fuel type power generation production (gridwatch.co.uk) you will see how our National Grid is being supplied. It is not uncommon for there to be no wind power generation. CCGT (Combined Cycle Gas Turbine) often provides most of our electricity.