Cost of living!

[Kimbers]

Just been on my Scottish power account and found out I was on a higher tariff. Swapped to Variable rate and they have dropped my £313 a month to £263 a month!

So I have to ask the obvious. Surely they should put people on their best rate without having to apply for it? It seems crazy I've been paying £50 a month too much for the last 6 months!! 

Not a happy Bunny but keep being told its not worth switching. But really? Customer service at its........ shitiest!

[Bibs]

Centrica reveal profits have tripled last year to £3.3bn.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64652142

 

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

On 02/02/2023 at 19:26, LotusLeftLotusRight said:

£275 for January. £125 electricity and £150 gas. £236 per month direct debit.

£244 for February, but a short month so similar to January on a day-to-day basis. £112 electricity and £132 gas.

Interesting to see what Jeremy Hunt does next with regards to assistance. When are we finally going to see the lower wholesale prices being reflected in everyone’s bills? The peak was way back in August 2022 and we now have wholesale prices way down at September 2021 levels:

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-11797641/Why-gas-electricity-bills-going-April-wholesale-prices-fallen.html

[Bibs]

Stamps are going up from 95p to £1.10 in a few weeks. The Royal Mail made £750m profit last year, sounds like they really needed a huge increase while the service is up the spout, their staff hate working there and international post is still missing from being posted in mid-January. Dicks. I'll no longer use them by default and will be looking for another service provider for my post & shipping.

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

One good thing that came from COVID was the closure of the barbers. I bought a hair trimmer for me and the boys. They have gone back to barbers since, but I am happy with a monthly free trim from my wife. I reckon that saves me £180 per year that I can now give to the poor energy companies instead.

[C8RKH]

You know, you can always ditch the energy companies and go "off grid". Then you won't have to pay them anything and it'll save you another £180 a year on tissues to wipe up your tears every time you need to pay their bill.

As you can see profit margins are way too high historically. Would you be happy if you ran a business that returned these kinds of margins?

 

[Barrykearley]

This guy summed it up @C8RKH

 

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMYfuQyHW/

[Bibs]

48 minutes ago, C8RKH said:

You know, you can always ditch the energy companies and go "off grid".

Not sure there's much natural gas under my back garden and the govt own it anyway. Perhaps BP can drill for it and sell it back to me to add to their £billions of profits! 

[C8RKH]

Stick a pipe up yer ass and eat plenty of baked beans. You'll not be short of gas!  

In all honesty, given you have an EV @Bibs I'd have thought you'd be shunning the carbon based "gas" for a ground/air source heat pump, solar PV heating and solar water heating.

I've just replaced my 30 year old oil boiler with, another, oil boiler, whilst I can lol.

58 minutes ago, Barrykearley said:

This guy summed it up @C8RKH

 

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMYfuQyHW/

No Barry. You've got it all wrong, it's all the fault of the energy retailers who are holding everyone to ransom through making, often, negative profits. Apparently to be a "good" energy retailer they are required to make even more of a loss.

Don't get me started on the UK's energy policies of the last 50 years. They have been pathetic. But for most, they just seem to want to blame the retailers regardless. It's the easy option. Not saying they are saints. But I just get frustrated at how little people want to know, or do know.

[Bibs]

I never got my EV for its environmental benefits, if there really are any. It's just a very cheap way of motoring as it's leased through the business. 

We're a 300 year old, north facing house with single glazing and stone walls so no where near efficient enough for any of those pumps and nowhere for solar to see any sun. Couldn't be less ideal really. 

[PaulCP]

1 hour ago, C8RKH said:

Stick a pipe up yer ass and eat plenty of baked beans. You'll not be short of gas!  

In all honesty, given you have an EV @Bibs I'd have thought you'd be shunning the carbon based "gas" for a ground/air source heat pump, solar PV heating and solar water heating.

I've just replaced my 30 year old oil boiler with, another, oil boiler, whilst I can lol.

No Barry. You've got it all wrong, it's all the fault of the energy retailers who are holding everyone to ransom through making, often, negative profits. Apparently to be a "good" energy retailer they are required to make even more of a loss.

Don't get me started on the UK's energy policies of the last 50 years. They have been pathetic. But for most, they just seem to want to blame the retailers regardless. It's the easy option. Not saying they are saints. But I just get frustrated at how little people want to know, or do know.

I am not convinced about the so called losses. Since many of the retailers are also energy producers, EDF for instance, I am sure that inter group company transfer pricing takes place to hide the real profits

[C8RKH]

52 minutes ago, PaulCP said:

I am not convinced about the so called losses. Since many of the retailers are also energy producers, EDF for instance, I am sure that inter group company transfer pricing takes place to hide the real profits

Paul, so that explains why almost a half of new energy retail entrants have failed then eh? Mostly through bad financial management I admit, but also due to the fact that the energy market in the UK is broken, and that I am afraid is not the fault of the retailers. It is down to piss poor government strategy, and even more piss poor regulation where the regulator has, in my very humble opinion, royally screwed up the market, screwed over consumers AND screwed over retailers.  I guess my point is always that it's not as cut and dried as people think and energy retail is a shite market to be in, even IF you are a big energy company. If energy retail was such a good place to be, why is Shell figuring out how it can exit, after finding it tough turning its acquisition of First Utility into a profitable retail business?

The ideal solution could be that Energy companies are left to take the risk, make the investment, and reap the rewards for producing the energy, but consumers are shielded from risks by a Government run national energy retailer that sets the prices at which it will buy energy, and then sell on to consumers.  But then the chances of that working well are slim, we only need to look at the billions wasted by similar model that is used by the NHS.

It's not an easy situation to fix, made more complex by massive subsidies being paid for renewables by consumers, by Putins war in Ukraine, by OPEC artificially keeping prices high, etc etc. As ever, I just rile at peoples over simplification of the situation with comments akin to "energy retailers are all twats and are all screwing us over". And by the way, energy companies that also retail have less than 50% market share these days.

[PaulCP]

@C8RKHAndy, maybe my comment was an over simplification but I was referring more to the established energy suppliers who are also energy manufacturers.
The likes of EDF always state that they lose money on domestic supplies etc, particularly in the U.K., but unless they can sell the energy manufactured to 3rd parties parties at the same transfer prices that they sell to their own international subsidiaries they are just fudging their figures to suit the story that they want to tell and as part of international tax planning. I’ve been involved in doing the same in a different industry. 

I agree that the latest entry companies that have failed in this sector is due to other factors since they have basically acted as commodity traders.

I also agree that the U.K. energy market is broken due to govt strategy, not just the latest govt but every govt over the past e decades, and over the years the energy regulator.

[oneshot]

We have just had £150 from our energy company as an alternative fuel payment. We don't have mains gas so as we are a business off grid they are helping with the heating costs!

[mayevora]

On 04/03/2023 at 10:19, Bibs said:

Stamps are going up from 95p to £1.10 in a few weeks. The Royal Mail made £750m profit last year, sounds like they really needed a huge increase while the service is up the spout, their staff hate working there and international post is still missing from being posted in mid-January. Dicks. I'll no longer use them by default and will be looking for another service provider for my post & shipping.

Personally I think Royal Mail is a dying Company. Royal Mail has competitors nowadays unlike 30 odd years back. Many Businesses now use other options that are cheaper and more reliable where the employees are less likely to strike so delivery happens.

Emails have killed the letter and not sending Xmas cards nowadays is becoming the norm. Post Office’s are closing every day and packets and parcels are couriered by numerous other available delivery services. Royal Mail is an out of date dinosaur.

Could almost put British Rail in the same bracket.

[910Esprit]

 

2 hours ago, oneshot said:

We have just had £150 from our energy company as an alternative fuel payment.

   In addition to the £200  you should receive for the domestic 'off grid' payment?  

[oneshot]

Unfirtunately not as we are on a business tariff.

[C8RKH]

"Coal power will help keep the lights on across Britain tonight as the National Grid fired up back-up plants amid plunging temperatures.

One of EDF's two West Burton A coal power stations in Lincolnshire will begin generating electricity today after the grid failed to secure an adequate buffer to keep the lights on.

Earlier, National Grid issued a second-stage warning that the margin between electricity supply and demand would be tight today.

Demand has increased after a cold snap hit the UK just as generation from Britain's wind farms fell to 14pc of national output. ..."

 

Good job we didn't listen all the Jon Snow's out there and get rid of ALL of our carbon based energy production!  As for Scotland, we'd be transported back to the 1500's if we just relied on our SNP/Green strategy or renewables only right now. 

 

On 04/03/2023 at 18:45, PaulCP said:

@C8RKHAndy, maybe my comment was an over simplification but I was referring more to the established energy suppliers who are also energy manufacturers.

Paul, I want to respond to this but the answer will be a long one. Let's just keep it short by saying that the energy companies find and extract the energy (e.g. oil/gas). They sell it to the highest bidder who then uses it to create electricity which they sell (commit) to the National Grid and then it is supplied to the homes by Retailers who have bought it on the market. There is a national "sales" system that buys in wholesale, and then after what a consumer has used is calculated, it is "settled" at a later date. In other words, they can't choose to sell it to their "own" consumer only, it all goes into a "pool". That is why when renewables was first introduced and you had a "guaranteed 100% renewable contract" the energy retailer had to add the small print to say that they could not guarantee that your electricity was 100% "green" and to compensate for that they would "offset" through ROC's and other means to make it carbon neutral etc.

[Bibs]

Is there really that much of a spike in electricity during a cold snap? The people turning on electric fires must be minted, I thought most homes used gas fired heating?

[exeterjeep]

11 hours ago, C8RKH said:

just as generation from Britain's wind farms fell to 14pc of national output. .

Not very sunny either, all those solar panels covered in snow.

[C8RKH]

Beautiful and sunny where I live in Scotland right now. Just taken this photo and it has been like this the last three days....

 

1 hour ago, Bibs said:

Is there really that much of a spike in electricity during a cold snap? The people turning on electric fires must be minted, I thought most homes used gas fired heating?

Yes. A lot of people in flats for instance do not have gas (for obvious reasons re explosions etc). Oh and heat pumps use a lot of electricity too...  Go figure. AND of course, EV range drops significantly in the very cold weather requiring more charging.  The future's dim for sure.

[Kimbers]

Most of my Village is Oil powered. My old next door neighbour just moved half a mile to downsize and save money. New "Ecologically built" house. She went from a large 4 bed with Conservatory to a 2 bed bungalow. Oil powered to Heat Pump. Guess what. Her Smart meter is telling her the heat pump is more expensive in her 2 bed bungalow than her 4 bed house was with Oil. She's really not a happy bunny.  

Your view is.....suitable

My View isn't too bad either, just flat around here innit!

[exeterjeep]

Just had my 2 electric bills in - do mine quarterly,

now in credit on both due to the £67 monthly support and the £200 for not having gas, 1 is in credit by £3.68 the other by  £395.

[Stuart Monument]

On 09/03/2023 at 14:47, Kimbers said:

Most of my Village is Oil powered. My old next door neighbour just moved half a mile to downsize and save money. New "Ecologically built" house. She went from a large 4 bed with Conservatory to a 2 bed bungalow. Oil powered to Heat Pump. Guess what. Her Smart meter is telling her the heat pump is more expensive in her 2 bed bungalow than her 4 bed house was with Oil. She's really not a happy bunny.  

Your view is.....suitable

My View isn't too bad either, just flat around here innit!

I had an air source heat pump installed . Worse thing I have ever done. The flow temperatures are not hot enough to heat the slab properly so it’s just constantly running. Had Everyman and his dog inspect it to make sure it’s working as it should.Last months electric bill was £800 before the £66 rebate. It’s all nonsense . Our oil boiler was cheaper and the house was warmer.the sit source heat pump costs £5 a day just to hear water !!!

[exeterjeep]

Heard several stories like this, wonder if ground source heat pumps are actually better.