Chances of new PM restricting price cap rise?

sienew

jak22 said:

But the story headline is still "New Prime Minister Liz Truss expected to freeze energy bills"

It will be frozen at the point of use. So if they freeze at todays price you will continue to buy it from your supplier at todays price cap. The suppliers still have to buy the energy from the producers at the market rate (roughly 80% more). That difference has to come from somewhere... and the proposals by all parties and the energy companies themselves is mostly through debt that is added to bills over a 10-15 year period.

The energy producers, such as those in Norway, won't accept less than the market rate for the energy they are selling just because our govt "capped" the price. They will sell to someone else, especially as much of Europe have been desperately trying to buy our supplies from Norway to prevent blackouts this winter.

jak22

Section62 said:

jak22 said:

But the story headline is still "New Prime Minister Liz Truss expected to freeze energy bills"

That doesn't make it true.

I just meant that although the article shows its just one option, the headline which is what people see first and is repeated on the news front page still says expected

No-one on fixed would begrudge the cap being frozen for everyone else - they just want to be remembered in the huge amount it'll all cost and have to pay for in the future just the same.

If there's not many on fixed as the media assumes then it wont cost that much to write-off exit fees or keep the £400 for fixed.

Astria

I expect all that will happen is green levy maybe removed from bills, tax may be reduced for residential, but I wouldn't expect much else.

tpeppers

jak22 said:

Section62 said:

jak22 said:

But the story headline is still "New Prime Minister Liz Truss expected to freeze energy bills"

That doesn't make it true.

I just meant that although the article shows its just one option, the headline which is what people see first and is repeated on the news front page still says expected

No-one on fixed would begrudge the cap being frozen for everyone else - they just want to be remembered in the huge amount it'll all cost and have to pay for in the future just the same.

If there's not many on fixed as the media assumes then it wont cost that much to write-off exit fees or keep the £400 for fixed.

Yes, the certainty of the headline very much doesn't match the actual article. The article just says it is one of the ideas being mooted, and one that Liz Truss doesn't rule out. The article does say that industry sources think it is looking likely, but then they were the ones who suggested the idea in the first place so of course they'd say that.

I now think the freeze is probably more likely to happen than not. I haven't fixed for several months with the vague hope that something like this might happen, and hopefully the gamble pays off (else I am in the hole for several thousand pounds). 

sienew

tpeppers said:

jak22 said:

Section62 said:

jak22 said:

But the story headline is still "New Prime Minister Liz Truss expected to freeze energy bills"

That doesn't make it true.

I just meant that although the article shows its just one option, the headline which is what people see first and is repeated on the news front page still says expected

No-one on fixed would begrudge the cap being frozen for everyone else - they just want to be remembered in the huge amount it'll all cost and have to pay for in the future just the same.

If there's not many on fixed as the media assumes then it wont cost that much to write-off exit fees or keep the £400 for fixed.

Yes, the certainty of the headline very much doesn't match the actual article. The article just says it is one of the ideas being mooted, and one that Liz Truss doesn't rule out. The article does say that industry sources think it is looking likely, but then they were the ones who suggested the idea in the first place so of course they'd say that.

I now think the freeze is probably more likely to happen than not. I haven't fixed for several months with the vague hope that something like this might happen, and hopefully the gamble pays off (else I am in the hole for several thousand pounds). 

The big question is, if they cap the price... will it be at todays rate or Octobers? That is the multi-billion pound question.

But you are right. Energy suppliers are the ones who benefit most from this proposal so will continue to push it in the media.

savers_united

Still more questions than answers at this stage. Even a price freeze could come in many different forms, the media are reporting a £100bn pot but I think that will be used for domestic and business customers, it will certainly look different to Labour's offering so it could just freeze prices for certain customers, do we still get the £400, maybe the first x Kwh are frozen, say 5000kwh gas and 2000kwh Electric and what rate would be frozen. 

My bet is that Octobers pruce rise will go ahead, the £400 remains to help offset the increase but the message will be no more rises to the cap for the next 2 years, so these predictions of £7k per year bills from next April can be silenced. They will be hoping that during those 2 years the price of Gas will come down as alternatives are found and action around storage taken, maybe some positive moves in Ukraine, Russia coming to the table to save its economy offering cheap Gas, but a cap freeze would protect customers in the run up to the predicted 2024 GE. 

Astria

I now think the freeze is probably more likely to happen than not. I haven't fixed for several months with the vague hope that something like this might happen, and hopefully the gamble pays off (else I am in the hole for several thousand pounds). 

I actually ignored all the fixes with an exit fee just in case something like this happened. I did fix on a no-exit tariff, but on the agreement that the fix doesn't start until mid-October. Kinda glad now because all current fixes are more expensive. If something does happen I think it could be January or April before it does, but I guess we'll see.

tpeppers

sienew said:

tpeppers said:

jak22 said:

Section62 said:

jak22 said:

But the story headline is still "New Prime Minister Liz Truss expected to freeze energy bills"

That doesn't make it true.

I just meant that although the article shows its just one option, the headline which is what people see first and is repeated on the news front page still says expected

No-one on fixed would begrudge the cap being frozen for everyone else - they just want to be remembered in the huge amount it'll all cost and have to pay for in the future just the same.

If there's not many on fixed as the media assumes then it wont cost that much to write-off exit fees or keep the £400 for fixed.

Yes, the certainty of the headline very much doesn't match the actual article. The article just says it is one of the ideas being mooted, and one that Liz Truss doesn't rule out. The article does say that industry sources think it is looking likely, but then they were the ones who suggested the idea in the first place so of course they'd say that.

I now think the freeze is probably more likely to happen than not. I haven't fixed for several months with the vague hope that something like this might happen, and hopefully the gamble pays off (else I am in the hole for several thousand pounds). 

The big question is, if they cap the price... will it be at todays rate or Octobers? That is the multi-billion pound question.

But you are right. Energy suppliers are the ones who benefit most from this proposal so will continue to push it in the media.

I would think that for there to be any point in "capping the cap", they'd have to freeze it at today's level. I think October's price cap is too far beyond what many people would find affordable, so if the cap freeze is to have its intended effect, it needs to come in at today's price. 

savers_united

tpeppers said:

sienew said:

tpeppers said:

jak22 said:

Section62 said:

jak22 said:

But the story headline is still "New Prime Minister Liz Truss expected to freeze energy bills"

That doesn't make it true.

I just meant that although the article shows its just one option, the headline which is what people see first and is repeated on the news front page still says expected

No-one on fixed would begrudge the cap being frozen for everyone else - they just want to be remembered in the huge amount it'll all cost and have to pay for in the future just the same.

If there's not many on fixed as the media assumes then it wont cost that much to write-off exit fees or keep the £400 for fixed.

Yes, the certainty of the headline very much doesn't match the actual article. The article just says it is one of the ideas being mooted, and one that Liz Truss doesn't rule out. The article does say that industry sources think it is looking likely, but then they were the ones who suggested the idea in the first place so of course they'd say that.

I now think the freeze is probably more likely to happen than not. I haven't fixed for several months with the vague hope that something like this might happen, and hopefully the gamble pays off (else I am in the hole for several thousand pounds). 

The big question is, if they cap the price... will it be at todays rate or Octobers? That is the multi-billion pound question.

But you are right. Energy suppliers are the ones who benefit most from this proposal so will continue to push it in the media.

I would think that for there to be any point in "capping the cap", they'd have to freeze it at today's level. I think October's price cap is too far beyond what many people would find affordable, so if the cap freeze is to have its intended effect, it needs to come in at today's price. 

But then what about the hand outs, £400 for everyone, over £1000 for most vulnerable, doubling of the winter fuel allowance, plus other funds that have been set up. This was all done when a cap of £2800 was predicted for October. That support package was praised by many Inc Martin, we are now £700 higher on the cap so there is a case for addtional limited support to those most in need, but if we are looking to freeze the cap at under £2k then all support announced to date and in some cases already given would no longer be required. I think freezing from October is cleaner and leave the support in place, it will also cost Gov't (us) alot less, many are still be able to afford these October price increases by just cutting back on energy use and reducing their spending elsewhere. 

sienew

savers_united said:

tpeppers said:

sienew said:

tpeppers said:

jak22 said:

Section62 said:

jak22 said:

But the story headline is still "New Prime Minister Liz Truss expected to freeze energy bills"

That doesn't make it true.

I just meant that although the article shows its just one option, the headline which is what people see first and is repeated on the news front page still says expected

No-one on fixed would begrudge the cap being frozen for everyone else - they just want to be remembered in the huge amount it'll all cost and have to pay for in the future just the same.

If there's not many on fixed as the media assumes then it wont cost that much to write-off exit fees or keep the £400 for fixed.

Yes, the certainty of the headline very much doesn't match the actual article. The article just says it is one of the ideas being mooted, and one that Liz Truss doesn't rule out. The article does say that industry sources think it is looking likely, but then they were the ones who suggested the idea in the first place so of course they'd say that.

I now think the freeze is probably more likely to happen than not. I haven't fixed for several months with the vague hope that something like this might happen, and hopefully the gamble pays off (else I am in the hole for several thousand pounds). 

The big question is, if they cap the price... will it be at todays rate or Octobers? That is the multi-billion pound question.

But you are right. Energy suppliers are the ones who benefit most from this proposal so will continue to push it in the media.

I would think that for there to be any point in "capping the cap", they'd have to freeze it at today's level. I think October's price cap is too far beyond what many people would find affordable, so if the cap freeze is to have its intended effect, it needs to come in at today's price. 

But then what about the hand outs, £400 for everyone, over £1000 for most vulnerable, doubling of the winter fuel allowance, plus other funds that have been set up. This was all done when a cap of £2800 was predicted for October. That support package was praised by many Inc Martin, we are now £700 higher on the cap so there is a case for addtional limited support to those most in need, but if we are looking to freeze the cap at under £2k then all support announced to date and in some cases already given would no longer be required. I think freezing from October is cleaner and leave the support in place, it will also cost Gov't (us) alot less, many are still be able to afford these October price increases by just cutting back on energy use and reducing their spending elsewhere. 

^ this seems about right.

Also it's worth noting that the energy companies and other parties have usually suggested the cap of the cap for 6 months and budgeted accordingly. The reality is in 6 months the price is expected to be far higher than even the October cap so either there would be a MASSIVE shock for people in Spring or the support would have to be extended far beyond that time (costing tens of billions more).

Fixing at the October cap would allow for the government to spend a similar amount of money but instead of having a 6 month cap, do the cap for 2 years giving people price certainty and allow the support package to go until the next election.

Fixing at the October cap seems like it's a middle ground that might be appealing to the government.