Martin Lewis: Why are energy standing charges so high? What can be done

molerat

I was shocked by my electric SC for N Scotland, which is usually one of the more expensive and now in the middle, going from 59.4p to 61.1p when I was expecting 65p. From 6p above the average to 1p above. 

The variance in gas SC has come as a bit of a surprise.  Originally standardised, last time minor variations and now almost 2p variance across regions.  Mine has gone from 29.6p to 31.6p when expecting an increase to 30p

Spoonie_Turtle

The standard credit price cap amounts are eye-watering.  Most dual fuel customers paying that way will be paying over £1 per day.

borderline

so basically those who try to save on electric are gonna be paying more because the sanding charge is going up a lot. Thieves

MattMattMattUK

borderline said:

so basically those who try to save on electric are gonna be paying more because the sanding charge is going up a lot. Thieves

It is going up (or down) different amounts in different regions. It is in no way theft, libellous comments are unhelpful and ill advised.

TheElectricCow

borderline said:

so basically those who try to save on electric are gonna be paying more because the sanding charge is going up a lot. Thieves

Well everyone would be paying more with an increase to the standing charge, regardless of any usage savings they’ve made. That’s kind of the point. 

Those who reduce their consumption would still be paying less than those who don’t, and that’s why there’s a unit rate instead of just one fixed cost per day for everyone.

stripling

MattMattMattUK said:

borderline said:

so basically those who try to save on electric are gonna be paying more because the sanding charge is going up a lot. Thieves

It is going up (or down) different amounts in different regions. It is in no way theft, libellous comments are unhelpful and ill advised.

I'll repeat what I said elsewhere:  National Grid's pre-tax profits in 2022 were increased by 107% to £3.4bn. Their dividend payments to shareholders went up by 3.7%.  And in 2023.... wait for it... profits were even higher at £4.6bn.   #JustSaying 

matt_drummer

stripling said:

MattMattMattUK said:

borderline said:

so basically those who try to save on electric are gonna be paying more because the sanding charge is going up a lot. Thieves

It is going up (or down) different amounts in different regions. It is in no way theft, libellous comments are unhelpful and ill advised.

I'll repeat what I said elsewhere:  National Grid's pre-tax profits in 2022 were increased by 107% to £3.4bn. Their dividend payments to shareholders went up by 3.7%.  And in 2023.... wait for it... profits were even higher at £4.6bn.   #JustSaying 

How many customers do they have?

How much do they make per customer?

How much of those profits do they intend to invest to make all of our lives better/

If they made nothing how much would it reduce your bill by?

Who are the shareholders who received the dividends? Any pension funds?

Just asking!

stripling

matt_drummer said:

stripling said:

MattMattMattUK said:

borderline said:

so basically those who try to save on electric are gonna be paying more because the sanding charge is going up a lot. Thieves

It is going up (or down) different amounts in different regions. It is in no way theft, libellous comments are unhelpful and ill advised.

I'll repeat what I said elsewhere:  National Grid's pre-tax profits in 2022 were increased by 107% to £3.4bn. Their dividend payments to shareholders went up by 3.7%.  And in 2023.... wait for it... profits were even higher at £4.6bn.   #JustSaying 

How many customers do they have?

How much do they make per customer?

How much of those profits do they intend to invest to make all of our lives better/

If they made nothing how much would it reduce your bill by?

Who are the shareholders who received the dividends? Any pension funds?

Just asking!

The top few:
Bank of America Corporation

Renaissance Technologies, LLC

FMR, LLC

Morgan Stanley

Goldman Sachs

JP Morgan Chase & Company

Royal Bank of Canada

Raymond James & Associates, Inc.

But it is the model that is the problem....
As for pension funds - most low paid workers have minimal access to decent pensions, so there's no circular reasoning to justify this. (And anyway, I left out the ceo bonuses and big $$ pay-offs). 

Standing charges penalise the poor and low users disproportionately. Many low users are low users because of poverty, not because they have a solar array and battery rig that they've ripped up hard cash for - that's out of their reach. Nice if you can afford it but renters and/or those with low incomes are excluded. 

Infrastructure as vital as our national grid should not be running such profits - it should not be a 'for profit' organisation. It's a stitch-up. It is (yet another) example of privatising the profits and socialising the costs. 

Far better and far more fair would be some kind of non profit - a regional community benefit society, with an asset lock - for example. Thus any operating profits could only be re-invested in the company and thus the infrastructure of the grid, or used to reduce charges.

We might have gone greener, faster too. 

subjecttocontract

But surely if standing charges were reduced then energy unit cost would rise to fill the shortfall ? 
You don't get something for nothing.

matt_drummer

stripling said:

matt_drummer said:

stripling said:

MattMattMattUK said:

borderline said:

so basically those who try to save on electric are gonna be paying more because the sanding charge is going up a lot. Thieves

It is going up (or down) different amounts in different regions. It is in no way theft, libellous comments are unhelpful and ill advised.

I'll repeat what I said elsewhere:  National Grid's pre-tax profits in 2022 were increased by 107% to £3.4bn. Their dividend payments to shareholders went up by 3.7%.  And in 2023.... wait for it... profits were even higher at £4.6bn.   #JustSaying 

How many customers do they have?

How much do they make per customer?

How much of those profits do they intend to invest to make all of our lives better/

If they made nothing how much would it reduce your bill by?

Who are the shareholders who received the dividends? Any pension funds?

Just asking!

The top few:
Bank of America Corporation

Renaissance Technologies, LLC

FMR, LLC

Morgan Stanley

Goldman Sachs

JP Morgan Chase & Company

Royal Bank of Canada

Raymond James & Associates, Inc.

But it is the model that is the problem....
As for pension funds - most low paid workers have minimal access to decent pensions, so there's no circular reasoning to justify this. (And anyway, I left out the ceo bonuses and big $$ pay-offs). 

Standing charges penalise the poor and low users disproportionately. Many low users are low users because of poverty, not because they have a solar array and battery rig that they've ripped up hard cash for - that's out of their reach. Nice if you can afford it but renters and/or those with low incomes are excluded. 

Infrastructure as vital as our national grid should not be running such profits - it should not be a 'for profit' organisation. It's a stitch-up. It is (yet another) example of privatising the profits and socialising the costs. 

Far better and far more fair would be some kind of non profit - a regional community benefit society, with an asset lock - for example. Thus any operating profits could only be re-invested in the company and thus the infrastructure of the grid, or used to reduce charges.

We might have gone greener, faster too. 

So how much do they make per customer?

All workers are now entitled to automatic enrolment to a pension scheme.

CEO bonuses make no difference to you or me, they are peanuts divided by the amount of customers.

They make less than £100 a year from each connection and they do need some profits from their business.

Even if they made £0 per customer it would make very little difference and there would be nothing to invest in making things better.

You are a classic confused by big numbers kind of person.

They make big profits because the have a lot of customers, not because their charges are too high.