MSE News: Energy bills to fall by 7% as new Price Cap is announced

Mstty

dealyboy said:

@Alnat1 said:

@dealyboy Off topic again but regarding the chilblains, I have quite poor circulation and get them quite easily on my hands if I'm not careful. First happened when I was pushing a pram about regularly in winter, so not only something that happens as we get older.

If you are getting them on the backs of your fingers when you're typing, try fingerless gloves or wrist warmers (as you need to still see the keys) I use a mouse and it's that hand that suffers with me, so I put a towel over my hand. Rest of me is warm enough at 17-18C with a throw over my legs, you might find it's the same for you.

I'm pretty careful about wearing gloves outdoors too, as soon as it gets a bit chilly (glove liners work just as well) all my coat pockets have a pair handy.

Yes indeed it is the backs of my fingers on my mouse hand ... thank you very much for the suggestions.

Honestly I didn't know what it was and couldn't for the life of me work out what I was touching only with my right hand, I had thought it most likely to have been contact dermatitis with the itchiness.

  

Have you read this thread as it developed.

There are some good pointers to clothing required to stave off cold extremities.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6334019/how-to-live-without-heating-save-000s/p1

dealyboy

Thanks @Mstty ... and a timely reference for others  .

69bertie

matt_drummer said:

The standing charge will always increase, why wouldn't it?

It pays for the infrastructure, things like employees wages which usually increase over time.

I am sure that if or when you were working you would have hoped for or expected pay rises?

Of course it does. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Someone, somewhere pays. Be it direct or through taxation. I don't have a problem paying for the standing charge, its reasonably fair. The wires, pipes didn't get there by themselves. Even once installed, it needs people to look after it, parts replaced etc..

Even those, like myself, who have solar and battery, if I need access to the grid to export, I need those wires. One could argue, those using it the most should be paying MORE on the SC, simply because they are putting more strain on the system. Maybe I should be paying more for exporting! But I already do because I am an E7 user. For some reason, even with a Smart Meter fitted, the powers that be think it is OK to charge more on the SC for being on an E7 tariff. That should be outlawed.

TMSG

matt_drummer said:

QrizB said:

Tables for gas and multi-rate electricity are quoted similarly.

I think TMSG is asking for Ofgem to explicitly quote the daily standing charge and the unit price for each region, including 5% VAT. These would be the two extra columns.

I see.

It's a shame they didn't just say that they wanted to see the rates including VAT @ 5%.

(I am assuming with "they" you mean me.)

I meant precisely what I said and not what you think I meant (or should have said).

I certainly did NOT want to just have the VAT added in those tables. I'd like to see the actual, explicit figures for SC and unit rates that users have to pay, region for region. IOW, precisely those figures that @QrizB showed in his post.

I know that for many it's relatively easy (give or take 5% of VAT ) to calculate those figures but I also know people whose eyes would glaze over when seeing such a table, let alone getting to grips with the actual numbers. I simply think Ofgem could do a slightly better job of informing the general public if they included those figures as well, probably even in a separate table with some explanatory wording.

All IMO and YMMV.

FishInGlass

I think that the idea of a small standing charge is fine to cover the infrastructure and I expect it to go up approximately in line with inflation. However can anyone explain why my standing charges which were 19.03p per day for electricity and 22.05p for gas  2 years ago are currently 53.82p and 29.11p respectively and due to rise again in October. Assuming 20% inflation over the past two years they should 22.84p and 26.46p respectively.

I am aware that we have had to cover the failed suppliers but surely that should be a one off payment rather than an ongoing levy.

QrizB

FishInGlass said:

However can anyone explain why my standing charges which were 19.03p per day for electricity and 22.05p for gas  2 years ago are currently 53.82p and 29.11p respectively and due to rise again in October. Assuming 20% inflation over the past two years they should 22.84p and 26.46p respectively.

The Ofgem capped gas standing charge was over 30p in 2019. By your reckoning it should be 36p now.

dealyboy

@FishInGlass said:

I think that the idea of a small standing charge is fine to cover the infrastructure and I expect it to go up approximately in line with inflation. However can anyone explain why my standing charges which were 19.03p per day for electricity and 22.05p for gas  2 years ago are currently 53.82p and 29.11p respectively and due to rise again in October. Assuming 20% inflation over the past two years they should 22.84p and 26.46p respectively.

I am aware that we have had to cover the failed suppliers but surely that should be a one off payment rather than an ongoing levy.

Hi F I G ... I have found this explainer the best I could find when I was doing some research yesterday ... https://www.britishgas.co.uk/energy/guides/standing-charges.html ... scroll down to the 'Why do standing charges increase' section.

FishInGlass

dealyboy said:

@FishInGlass said:

I think that the idea of a small standing charge is fine to cover the infrastructure and I expect it to go up approximately in line with inflation. However can anyone explain why my standing charges which were 19.03p per day for electricity and 22.05p for gas  2 years ago are currently 53.82p and 29.11p respectively and due to rise again in October. Assuming 20% inflation over the past two years they should 22.84p and 26.46p respectively.

I am aware that we have had to cover the failed suppliers but surely that should be a one off payment rather than an ongoing levy.

Hi F I G ... I have found this explainer the best I could find when I was doing some research yesterday ... https://www.britishgas.co.uk/energy/guides/standing-charges.html ... scroll down to the 'Why do standing charges increase' section.

Thanks for that - I hadn't seen that article before. It also says that British Gas want to abolish standing charges. I assume that their hands are tied because Ofgem determines the maximum cost per kwh and daily standing charge. If  they had no standing charge then the cost per kwh needed to cover the difference would be greater than that permitted by the energy price cap.

HertsLad

dealyboy said:

@matt_drummer said:

dealyboy said:

I am a pensioner on a low income (just full state pension) and have a small park home with the only heating from a portable electric radiator. As a Forumite I cut costs if I can and the last two winters I have had what I now believe to have been chilblains for several months (GP has confirmed Beau's lines).

...It makes me sad that you are so cold that you have health issues.

I know that there is at least one poster here who suffers the cold and does not heat their home so that they can pay for skiing holidays.

...Thank you Matt. I have to own up that it was mostly self inflicted. I suppose it's a lesson people of my age learn quite quickly that we are not as young as we were and the body is more vulnerable.

I know that there is at least one poster here who suffers the cold and does not heat their home so that they can pay for skiing holidays.

No that's not me. I live well generally but mainly focus on essentials, I am not extravagant and do not indulge in luxuries, and I wouldn't be able to afford the lifestyle that would be considered 'comfortable'.

One of the reasons for my post was in response to this one by @[Deleted User] ... https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80255780/#Comment_80255780 an example of a low income low user not on means tested benefits due to the 'cliff edge' which excludes many. It was also to offer an alternative to the all or nothing standing charge debate.

I think it's me you are referring to. Indeed, I used the headline grabbing phrase something like using the money I save pays for a ski holiday each year. That was when heating costs were around £1200 per annum. I fear the costs are around double now, so the saving pays for a ski holiday plus several trips to countries worth visiting for sightseeing and beaches. I am sorry to hear you suffer from chilblains. No doctor would endorse what I am doing but I can't helping thinking that if you wear a fraction of what I wear, it might help. I don't 'suffer' in the slightest. A better word may be 'compensate' in the sense that I trap warm air around my body through the multiple layers I wear. Most people warm all the air in a room or entire house, to achieve a similar level of warmth. But only if they heat the room to at least 20C. If they heat the room to less than 20C, then I reckon my approach keeps me warmer.

Back to standing charges - I think they are a rip off. I have fond memories of several years enjoying tariffs with no standing charges through Ebico. More recently, I have been getting my standing charges refunded because I use no electricity. I hope a more competitive marketplace may return before too much longer.

Spoonie_Turtle

HertsLad said:

dealyboy said:

@matt_drummer said:

dealyboy said:

I am a pensioner on a low income (just full state pension) and have a small park home with the only heating from a portable electric radiator. As a Forumite I cut costs if I can and the last two winters I have had what I now believe to have been chilblains for several months (GP has confirmed Beau's lines).

...It makes me sad that you are so cold that you have health issues.

I know that there is at least one poster here who suffers the cold and does not heat their home so that they can pay for skiing holidays.

...Thank you Matt. I have to own up that it was mostly self inflicted. I suppose it's a lesson people of my age learn quite quickly that we are not as young as we were and the body is more vulnerable.

I know that there is at least one poster here who suffers the cold and does not heat their home so that they can pay for skiing holidays.

No that's not me. I live well generally but mainly focus on essentials, I am not extravagant and do not indulge in luxuries, and I wouldn't be able to afford the lifestyle that would be considered 'comfortable'.

One of the reasons for my post was in response to this one by @[Deleted User] ... https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80255780/#Comment_80255780 an example of a low income low user not on means tested benefits due to the 'cliff edge' which excludes many. It was also to offer an alternative to the all or nothing standing charge debate.

I think it's me you are referring to. Indeed, I used the headline grabbing phrase something like using the money I save pays for a ski holiday each year. That was when heating costs were around £1200 per annum. I fear the costs are around double now, so the saving pays for a ski holiday plus several trips to countries worth visiting for sightseeing and beaches. I am sorry to hear you suffer from chilblains. No doctor would endorse what I am doing but I can't helping thinking that if you wear a fraction of what I wear, it might help. I don't 'suffer' in the slightest. A better word may be 'compensate' in the sense that I trap warm air around my body through the multiple layers I wear. Most people warm all the air in a room or entire house, to achieve a similar level of warmth. But only if they heat the room to at least 20C. If they heat the room to less than 20C, then I reckon my approach keeps me warmer

How many layers, out of interest?  Our heating is set to 18℃ and I tend to wear 4 or 5 layers in winter.  (For context, today is much warmer than it has been so I'm only wearing 2 layers, one of which is a fleecy jumper.  I don't need knee-high socks today, though.)