Energy Standing Charges

maxandmurph

I have a question regarding the daily standing charges on both gas and electric. The maximum unit charge (KWh) is governed by the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG)  and I have those charges which were displayed on the governments web site, which are specific to my area (Northumberland). However I have discovered that the cap on daily standing charges are governed by OFGEM thus stipulated by the Energy Price Cap (EPC). OFGEM does not give these on their web site and do not answer emails by individuals on specific questions, as I have found out to my dismay. My question is, does anyone know or can direct me to where I can find what is the daily standing charge on gas and electric in my area from 1st April 2023? MSE indicates that for gas it is 29.11p/day and for electric it is 52.97p/day but these are the average figures taken for the whole country and as several energy companies are offering variable contracts after the 1st April 2023 at a much much higher daily charge, I am unsure whether they are breaking the cap on the charges or if my area has a higher daily charge rate.

MattMattMattUK

maxandmurph said:

I have a question regarding the daily standing charges on both gas and electric. The maximum unit charge (KWh) is governed by the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG)  and I have those charges which were displayed on the governments web site, which are specific to my area (Northumberland). However I have discovered that the cap on daily standing charges are governed by OFGEM thus stipulated by the Energy Price Cap (EPC). OFGEM does not give these on their web site and do not answer emails by individuals on specific questions, as I have found out to my dismay. My question is, does anyone know or can direct me to where I can find what is the daily standing charge on gas and electric in my area from 1st April 2023? MSE indicates that for gas it is 29.11p/day and for electric it is 52.97p/day but these are the average figures taken for the whole country and

If you have a look on your suppliers website they will show the rate you will be charged, or at least they may do in the next few days as some are updating their websites and tariffs at the moment. 

maxandmurph said:

as several energy companies are offering variable contracts after the 1st April 2023 at a much much higher daily charge, I am unsure whether they are breaking the cap on the charges or if my area has a higher daily charge rate.

They are not breaking the cap, the cap only applies to the Standard Variable Tariff, the default tariff that all suppliers must offer, if you agree a fix/tracker etc. with your supplier then they can make the standing charge whatever they want and you have the choice whether to choose those tariffs or not. 

MikeyPGT

Mstty said:

MikeyPGT said:

Standing charges do unfairly impact low users - my gas standing charge is over 90% of my actual spend and for electricity around a third.  To my mind a fairer option would be to add a small percentage to the unit price so that higher users contribute more.  Also the madness of the National Grid (and the energy companies in general) being in private hands needs to be addressed

You need to ditch your gas supply in that case then and save circa £106 a year SC for gas.

Sadly it's a rented property so I don't have that option ...

molerat

maxandmurph said:

I have a question regarding the daily standing charges on both gas and electric. The maximum unit charge (KWh) is governed by the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG)  and I have those charges which were displayed on the governments web site, which are specific to my area (Northumberland). However I have discovered that the cap on daily standing charges are governed by OFGEM thus stipulated by the Energy Price Cap (EPC). OFGEM does not give these on their web site and do not answer emails by individuals on specific questions, as I have found out to my dismay. My question is, does anyone know or can direct me to where I can find what is the daily standing charge on gas and electric in my area from 1st April 2023? MSE indicates that for gas it is 29.11p/day and for electric it is 52.97p/day but these are the average figures taken for the whole country and as several energy companies are offering variable contracts after the 1st April 2023 at a much much higher daily charge, I am unsure whether they are breaking the cap on the charges or if my area has a higher daily charge rate.

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2023-02/Default tariff cap level - 1 April 2023 - 30 June 2023.pdf

You have to work it out for yourself, divide by 365, and add 5% VAT though.  It is the Nil kWh column.

weby72

EssexHebridean said:

No energy suppliers are making "absurd profits" right now - they are allowed to make a maximum of 2% profit, and in fact most have bee falling short of that since the energy crisis hit.  

That's a bit disingenuous. Most of the big energy suppliers are also energy producers. And the energy producers are making obscene profits, especially from wind generation.

EssexHebridean

weby72 said:

EssexHebridean said:

No energy suppliers are making "absurd profits" right now - they are allowed to make a maximum of 2% profit, and in fact most have bee falling short of that since the energy crisis hit.  

That's a bit disingenuous. Most of the big energy suppliers are also energy producers. And the energy producers are making obscene profits, especially from wind generation.

Some energy suppliers also have an arm of their parent company acting as an energy producer, might be a more accurate way of putting things.  If you want to see the real state of the energy supply market in the UK right now in terms of profit though - the very fact that Shell have been consider pulling their "Shell Energy Retail" operation out of it altogether tells you a lot. 

weby72

A big proportion of the increased standing charges is to pay for the cost of bribing other suppliers to take on the customers of the failed suppliers.

Such is the nefarious 'limited liability' corporate system in this country, the owners of the failed suppliers pocketed their fat profits when the going was good (probably squirrelling them away into 'secrecy jurisdictions'), and let Joe Public pick up the pieces when it all went wrong.

Of course, in the Klondike kulture of pre-2022 electrical supply - encouraged by the spivs and shysters in government - was 'lite-touch' regulation. So, instead of OFGEM doing the obvious and sensible thing of forcing every supplier offering fixed-price tarrifs to hedge their supply prices for the terms of all fixed price deals )I've no love for the big suppliers, but they did at least do hedging), they let the bandits undercut established suppliers (by not having to pay hedging fees) to win market share.

In a fair and just world, the shysters who owned the failed energy supply companies would have every penny and asset they owned stripped from them to help fund the efforts to fix the mess they left in their wake.

But this is a capitalist world, where 'privatise the profit, socialise the risk' is the mantra.

pochase

Nobody has been bribed. The cost for the SOLR process was for the reimbursement of credits of the former customers, and yes for additional administration cost. 

You think it would have been better if all customers would have lost their money like it would happen to any credits if another type of company fails?

bristolleedsfan

weby72 said:

A big proportion of the increased standing charges is to pay for the cost of bribing other suppliers to take on the customers of the failed suppliers.

Those costs which have been spread evenly between Gas ( unit rate) and Electricity ( SC) have now reduced from £61 per year to £19 per year..........

matt_drummer

weby72 said:

A big proportion of the increased standing charges is to pay for the cost of bribing other suppliers to take on the customers of the failed suppliers.

Such is the nefarious 'limited liability' corporate system in this country, the owners of the failed suppliers pocketed their fat profits when the going was good (probably squirrelling them away into 'secrecy jurisdictions'), and let Joe Public pick up the pieces when it all went wrong.

Of course, in the Klondike kulture of pre-2022 electrical supply - encouraged by the spivs and shysters in government - was 'lite-touch' regulation. So, instead of OFGEM doing the obvious and sensible thing of forcing every supplier offering fixed-price tarrifs to hedge their supply prices for the terms of all fixed price deals )I've no love for the big suppliers, but they did at least do hedging), they let the bandits undercut established suppliers (by not having to pay hedging fees) to win market share.

In a fair and just world, the shysters who owned the failed energy supply companies would have every penny and asset they owned stripped from them to help fund the efforts to fix the mess they left in their wake.

But this is a capitalist world, where 'privatise the profit, socialise the risk' is the mantra.

You could also argue that some customers took a risk by moving to these companies to take advantage of cheap deals.

Except those customers took no risk at all as their money was protected, they took all of the rewards with none of the risks.

Those customers who stuck with the established suppliers probably gained less from cheap deals but end up paying some of the cost of protecting the balances of consumers who benefited the most.