freezing the cap price

[Deleted User]

Spot on, and I'm personally expecting the next update to be 2024 but that's just a guess.

VohnnyJegas

Dolor said:

si_74 said:

I understand this point of view totally, however I don't share it.

I took a fix in June that was about 24% above the current fix. It was my gamble. I messaged on this forum about at the time and received various bits of feedback that it was too expensive to go for. My opinion was that I wanted certainty and felt prices were only going in one direction. However I accepted that it was my risk and that if worse came to worse i would pay the exit fee (which is £300!) and be happy to do so if prices were not so bad.

That being said I am not a fan of this idea, I think the help needs to be targeted at those that need it the most. There will still be winners and losers and yes some further help for everyone would be ideal.......but there are those that are going to be in a financially critical position due to energy prices and they are the ones that need it most. Would I pay a bit more so that they are warm over winter without spiralling into debt? Yes!

I would also add in that any idea that comes from an energy company, and has the backing of other energy companies creates a massive red flag in my mind.....

As I said before, you have to have been through a period of very high inflation to know how bad it can become. I was married with a young (sick) child living in rented accommodation in the 70s. In the space of 6 months, we went from being a family that was managing to one that had to choose between eating or keeping our sick child warm. My income was above the limit for any State help - as was the case with many of my friends. What criteria does the Government use to come up with a formula to help those who are in a ‘financially critical position’? Trust me, the present ‘checks and balances’ won’t work. The net for assistance has to be spread a lot wider than helping those who are currently in receipt of benefits. 

If the idea of capping prices is flawed, then why are other countries going down this road? Their Governments must know that the support is going to have to be paid for either by consumers or taxpayers.

Or, perhaps, because all they care about is trying to win their next election.

Our current government did various things during COVID that many economists and scientists said were madness.  Why?  Because popular opinion, driven by newspapers, forced their hand.  We essentially followed the CCP, an authoritatian dictatorship, in lockstep.

So why on earth as you now asking "if they're doing it, why aren't we?"  I think it's maybe the French and Spaniards that are capping (subsidising) prices and having to borrow massively to do so.

They're kicking the can down the road and building up a massive national debt as a result.  Most suspect they'll last until April (maybe) before having to break and expose their population to the high price of energy.

The immediate solution to this would be to start sucking on the Russian fossil fuel teat again, but it's only a short-term solution as once they realise that turning the taps down can influence Europe, they'll keep doing it over and over again until there is no Europe, it'll be the USSE.

Perhaps you want that.  I, however, as someone born in a democracy, (albeit one that is increasingly less so) do not.

PennineAcute

If your data set has outliers, which is will when taking the annual use of the country's households, then median is the best average to use.

pochase

They also did update the real cap figures from 3100/12000 to 2900/12000 some year ago.

If they would really reduce the cap figure it would nearer to reality, but at the same time it would also lose comparability for all those who don't really follow what is behind the single cap figure.

Imagine we just set the October cap for 6000/1450 and the new cap figure is £1800. Half the less educated, including much of the press, would feel the energy crisis is gone. Prices are coming down now.

[Deleted User]

pochase said:

Imagine we just set the October cap for 6000/1450 and the new cap figure is £1800. Half the less educated, including much of the press, would feel the energy crisis is gone. Prices are coming down now.

I have a friend with a PhD and 2 Masters degrees in electronics and engineering who designs and builds prosthetic limbs. His wife makes all the decisions about energy because her husband admits that he doesn’t have a clue about how the domestic energy system works. I would not him regard him as ‘less educated’ so I think that we all need to be careful about making stereotypical comments.

tux900

[Deleted User] said:

His wife makes all the decisions about energy because her husband admits that he doesn’t have a clue about how the domestic energy system works. I would not him regard him as ‘less educated’ so I think that we all need to be careful about making stereotypical comments.

To be fair, even by his own admission he is 'less educated' - when it comes to the subject of the energy system - so a perfectly reasonable label to assign. His knowledge of electronics, engineering and prosthetic limbs is immaterial. Don't equate 'less educated' with 'stupid' (or whatever) when it comes to subject-specific knowledge. 

SAC2334

pochase said:

And what are you doing in April when the scheme ends? Which is exactly when we expect the highest cap. So tey will pay for the highest cap plus they will start to pay back this pay holiday, so the cost goes up even more.

I won t be using it by then . I m  in training now and my usage is next to nothing . Cutting out wasteful lifetime practices has been easy . like many old timers on here we are potty trained as kids to manage on what we get and won t find it that hard. 

I m not bothered  what the price is even if its £1 a kwh I won t be using their rip off electrons except for the bare minimum  . 

I think if I get any more Government help I ll be making a profit .

Factor in a bullet in Putins head and the Ukraine war ending then wholesale gas will drop like a stone . It can happen at any time