Topic: Fuel & energy prices

[reddebs]

I'll do it using the annual average medium household electricity figure of 2,900 kWh and the current price cap of 27p.

Usage: 2,900 x 27p = £783
Standing Charge: 365 days x 53p = £193

Total = £976 / 12 months = £81 per month.

I wish our standing charge was only 53p the robbing bastards here charge 59p a day but I do what you suggest anyway. 

The app gives me the exact consumption for each month over the last 3yrs which is how I know we're using less each month since the smart meter was installed in July.

Our usage in September and October was less than May and June 👍

[reddebs]

@reddebs, would you consider a heat pump?

Heat pump, solar panels, a turbine, I'd have all or any of them but I'm not on benefits so the landlord would never pay for it.

[redbyrdz]

Ofgem are thinking about revieving the standing charge system. If you have any strong views about standing charges, you can email them at standingcharges@ofgem.gov.uk before 19th January.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-67431758

[reddebs]

Ofgem are thinking about revieving the standing charge system. If you have any strong views about standing charges, you can email them at standingcharges@ofgem.gov.uk before 19th January.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-67431758

Ooh thanks for that I'll definitely be giving them my two penn'orth 👍

[PaulF]

Heat pump, solar panels, a turbine, I'd have all or any of them but I'm not on benefits so the landlord would never pay for it.

Ah, didn't realise you were renting.

[PaulF]

Ofgem are thinking about revieving the standing charge system. If you have any strong views about standing charges, you can email them at standingcharges@ofgem.gov.uk before 19th January.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-67431758

Heard a bit on the radio. They obviously see that in its current form that it's broken, and they are fishing for ideas on how to fix it.  They aren't dodging the issue that the money is needed to cover infrastructure and bailout costs.  I think they are aware that it penalises those that are frugal , yet they don't want to \ can't just put up the variable cost.  My first stab would be could they charge it based on the council tax band of the property?

[reddebs]

Anyone with Scottish Power been sent the email asking to take part in their version of reducing your peak time electric usage?

Got mine yesterday, what a farce!

Only available to those with a smart meter, no money back just a points based system rewarded with evouchers, need to download a different app and register all your meter details to set it up.

It's barely worth it as I'm home all day so washing is done in the mornings, we don't have a dryer or dishwasher and I can shower anytime.

[west_london_red]

Yeah, that seems a bit of a faff but all of the providers only offer their schemes if your on a smart meter (how else would they know how much energy you have saved though?)

The Octopus energy scheme gives you points that you then use to take money off your bill, and it’s all done on the same App you do everything else with.

[stewil007]

And in other news the energy price cap is going up 5% as of the 1st Jan.

At least all that money we're saving from the 10%NIC rate is going to the poor buggers in the energy sector - bless 'em

[reddebs]

Yeah, that seems a bit of a faff but all of the providers only offer their schemes if your on a smart meter (how else would they know how much energy you have saved though?)

The Octopus energy scheme gives you points that you then use to take money off your bill, and it’s all done on the same App you do everything else with.

Yeah my tenant is with octopus on a smart meter and we do that for her but at least the credit goes towards her usage not evouchers that I'll never use 🤷

[PaulF]

And in other news the energy price cap is going up 5% as of the 1st Jan.

At least all that money we're saving from the 10%NIC rate is going to the poor buggers in the energy sector - bless 'em

I used to work in renewables. We seemed to get so many subsidies that I did wonder if our salaries were big versions of government benefits.

[Red-Soldier]

Food brands raised profits with price rises says UK regulator



Food brands in the UK have pushed up their prices by more than costs increased, the UK’s competition regulator has said after examining the sector in response to concerns about “greedflation” adding to the cost of living crisis.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said that “three-quarters of brands that provided comparable data have increased their unit profitability during the recent period of high food price inflation”, in a report published on Wednesday.

The regulator added that “in most cases, shoppers can find cheaper alternatives”, suggesting it does not have concerns over unfair competition.

However, the regulator said that this was not the case in the baby formula market. It will look at whether “ineffective competition in the baby formula market could be leading to parents paying higher prices”.

It also said it will look at the impact of loyalty scheme pricing by supermarkets.

Sarah Cardell, chief executive of the CMA, said:

Food price inflation has put huge strain on household budgets, so it is vital competition issues aren’t adding to the problem. While in most cases the leading brands have raised prices more than their own cost increases, own label products are generally providing cheaper alternatives.

The picture is different when it comes to baby formula, with little evidence that people are switching to cheaper products and limited own label alternatives. We’re concerned that parents may not always have the right information to make informed choices and that suppliers may not have strong incentives to offer infant formula at competitive prices.

[PaulF]

Has anyone seen that OFGEM are doing a survey for ideas on how the standing charge can be made fairer?

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2023-11/Standing%20Charges%20-%20Call%20for%20Input.pdf

[west_london_red]

Has anyone seen that OFGEM are doing a survey for ideas on how the standing charge can be made fairer?

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2023-11/Standing%20Charges%20-%20Call%20for%20Input.pdf

Id just be happy if they stopped granting licenses to energy suppliers whose business model isn’t sustainable, go bankrupt and leave us to pick up the bill via our standing charges. It’s not like when these companies were profitable they were giving us any money, and if they were keeping their customers bills down then those same customers should be the ones picking up the cost of the bankruptcy, not everyone else when they go kaput.

[reddebs]

Has anyone seen that OFGEM are doing a survey for ideas on how the standing charge can be made fairer?

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2023-11/Standing%20Charges%20-%20Call%20for%20Input.pdf

What a joke that is. 

59 pages of explanation but where's the survey?

[TepidT2O]

You should try the DFE’s consultation on minimum service levels on schools.

Their proposal is that schools should maintain a minimum service level where 75% of students can attend.

The space allowed for feedback? 150 characters.
 


They simply don’t give a shit.

[Jiminy Cricket]

Has anyone seen that OFGEM are doing a survey for ideas on how the standing charge can be made fairer?

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2023-11/Standing%20Charges%20-%20Call%20for%20Input.pdf

If they need to ensure that the energy operators cover basic costs in the event of no energy use, the solution is simple: have a standing daily charge which is offset by usage. So if your standing charge is say, 100GBP over x-days, and your usage is 250GBP over x-days, you'd pay 250GBP in total. And if you instead used only 80GBP of energy over the same period, you'd still pay 100GBP. It is simply a minimum charge.

And if you are on benefits or on a low income, the minimum charge is heavily reduced.

The standing charge is horribly regressive.

[PaulF]

What a joke that is. 

59 pages of explanation but where's the survey?

Sorry, it's more a request for ideas than a survey. I have skimmed the first dozen pages and it seems well intentioned.

[PaulF]

If they need to ensure that the energy operators cover basic costs in the event of no energy use, the solution is simple: have a standing daily charge which is offset by usage. So if your standing charge is say, 100GBP over x-days, and your usage is 250GBP over x-days, you'd pay 250GBP in total. And if you instead used only 80GBP of energy over the same period, you'd still pay 100GBP. It is simply a minimum charge.

And if you are on benefits or on a low income, the minimum charge is heavily reduced.

The standing charge is horribly regressive.

That's the tricky bit. Identifying the at risk groups. And then it becomes political.

[reddebs]

Sorry, it's more a request for ideas than a survey. I have skimmed the first dozen pages and it seems well intentioned.

Sorry mate I wasn't moaning at you more that it's been done in such a way that nobody other than industry experts will bother as it's all jargon that most of us don't give a fuck about.

It fucks me off big time that even if I turned everything off for a whole year I'd still have to pay the fuckers over £200!!!

[Elmo!]

If they need to ensure that the energy operators cover basic costs in the event of no energy use, the solution is simple: have a standing daily charge which is offset by usage. So if your standing charge is say, 100GBP over x-days, and your usage is 250GBP over x-days, you'd pay 250GBP in total. And if you instead used only 80GBP of energy over the same period, you'd still pay 100GBP. It is simply a minimum charge.

And if you are on benefits or on a low income, the minimum charge is heavily reduced.

The standing charge is horribly regressive.

It's regressive, but in some ways I think something like it is inevitable with the way we want to push towards renewables.... where we're going to have to have things like nuclear to cover baseload, while also having the capacity to power everything with renewables when the wind is blowing and the sun is shining, as well as having to maintain storage solutions like batteries and pumped hydro. All of these things are going to cost money to run and maintain regardless of current demand. Much more so than gas power plants that can be turned on and off as and when necessary.

[Nobby Reserve]

UK wholesale gas prices have hit a 7-week low, despite the recent cold weather.

Over the US, there is record investment in fossil fuels - due mainly to the heightened oil & gas prices. Fracking has been ramped up, and the US has become the biggest producer of LNG, with its exports booming.

Speculation that OPEC countries may, in response, increase production of oil & gas into order to drive down global prices and stifle US domestic investment.

[PaulF]

Sorry mate I wasn't moaning at you more that it's been done in such a way that nobody other than industry experts will bother as it's all jargon that most of us don't give a fuck about.

It fucks me off big time that even if I turned everything off for a whole year I'd still have to pay the fuckers over £200!!!

Yeah. It's difficult.
And as Elmo says, we need to spend a lot to make sure we have power when renewables can't help us.
All the while whilst watching thermonuclear.

[tbonejones]

With the price increase in Jan, not sure if I should fix our prices for 12 months while I have the chance. Anyone opting to fix at the moment?

[Red-Soldier]

Greedflation: corporate profiteering ‘significantly’ boosted global prices, study shows

Multinationals in particular hiked prices far above rise in costs to deliver an outsize impact on cost of living crisis, report concludes

Profiteering has played a significant role in boosting inflation during 2022, according to a report that calls for a global corporation tax to curb excess profits.

Analysis of the financial accounts of many of the UK’s biggest businesses found that profits far outpaced increases in costs, helping to push up inflation last year to levels not seen since the early 1980s.

The report from the IPPR and Common Wealth thinktanks found that business profits rose by 30% among UK-listed firms, driven by just 11% of firms that made super-profits based on their ability to push through stellar price increases – often dubbed greedflation.

Excessive profits were even larger in the US, where many important sections of the economy are dominated by a few powerful companies.

This surge in profits happened as wage increases largely failed to keep pace with inflation, and workers suffered their largest fall in disposable incomes since the second world war.

Researchers said the energy companies ExxonMobil and Shell, mining firms Glencore and Rio Tinto, and food and commodities businesses Kraft Heinz, Archer-Daniels-Midland and Bunge all saw their profits far outpace inflation in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Because energy and food prices feed so significantly into costs across all sectors of the wider economy, this exacerbated the initial price shock – contributing to inflation peaking higher and lasting longer than had there been less market power,” the report said.

After the analysis of 1,350 companies listed on the stock markets in the UK, US, Germany, Brazil and South Africa, the report said firms in the technology sector, telecommunications and the banking industry also pushed through significant price increases that raised their profit margins.

“Such companies have been able to protect their profit margins or even increase them, generating excess profits through a combination of high market power and global market dynamics,” the report added.

Carsten Jung, head of economics at the IPPR, said the work of Isabella Weber, an economist at the University of Massachusetts, showed how “systemic sectors” can have an outsized impact on inflation across the wider economy.

The report echoes research by the Unite union, which last year revealed how the biggest price increases affecting the UK consumer prices index (CPI) were driven by firms that either maintained or improved their profit margins.

Among the companies that increased their profits most from the pre-pandemic average were:

    ExxonMobil: profits of £15bn increased to £53bn

    Shell: £16bn up to £44bn

    Glencore: £1.9 bn up to £14.8bn

    Archer-Daniels-Midland: £1.4bn up to £3.16bn

    Kraft Heinz: £265m up to £1.8bn


Four food companies – the listed suppliers Archer-Daniels-Midland and Bunge, plus the privately owned Cargill and Dreyfus – control an estimated 70%–90% of the world grain market.

“This has caused significant harm to the economy as a whole,” the report said. “Global GDP could be 8% higher than it is now had market power not risen. Labour income is likely significantly lower, and economic dynamism is weaker – with poorer choice, worse product quality and fewer economic opportunities – than in a counterfactual world where big corporations were less dominant,” it added.

Some members of the US central bank, the Federal Reserve, have acknowledged that prices rises have risen to boost profits.

Last year, Isabel Schnabel, a member of the executive board of the European Central Bank, said that “on average, profits have recently been a key contributor to total domestic inflation, above their historical contribution”.

Jung and the Common Wealth economist Chris Hayes said a tax on the estimated $4tn of excess global profits was needed alongside moves to break up monopolistic practices that allowed firms to exploit their market power.

Jung said the Bank of England had fallen behind in the debate and needed to “catch up”.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/dec/07/greedflation-corporate-profiteering-boosted-global-prices-study

[fowlermagic]

That article about Corporate greed is not exactly a surprise is it as I think we all know they have been robbing us blind since God knows when. With every war announced, oil supply shortages, foot n mouth disease, introduction of the Euro, 9/11, Suez canal, COVID etc etc etc any opportunity to up their prices/profits due to some crisis the fat cats jump on it. They knew people were unable to spend their money for 12-18 months during COVID as we were under lockdown so low and behold, quite a few peeps were flush with some savings. Not for long as the greedy pricks that run these firms said we will take that and more.

[Nobby Reserve]

This is why the corporate-capitalism model is failing.

Greedy arseholes ripping us all off, dodging tax, shafting workers.

And governments of all mainstream parties kiss their arses and fail to legislate against their cuntishness.

[stewil007]

For those that can, get on the energy saving sessions - from the last 2 sessions with octopus, i've saved enough energy to earn £22 off my next bill.

[Wabaloolah]

With the price increase in Jan, not sure if I should fix our prices for 12 months while I have the chance. Anyone opting to fix at the moment?

depends what price you are trying to fix at. I'm not fixing

[Wabaloolah]

For those that can, get on the energy saving sessions - from the last 2 sessions with octopus, i've saved enough energy to earn £22 off my next bill.

blimey, that's good going, managed to get £1.59 off, missus not keen on sitting in the dark unfortunately but every little helps.

[Wabaloolah]

My Electricity and gas prices have increased slightly in January but the standing charge for gas has been frozen and electricity down a fraction

[reddebs]

I'm still managing to reduce my electric usage month on month so since August I'm already down 500kwh on my annual average. 

That's a saving of around £135 over the year.

[west_london_red]

I'm still managing to reduce my electric usage month on month so since August I'm already down 500kwh on my annual average. 

That's a saving of around £135 over the year.

We seem to be suffering from energy reduction fatigue in my house. We reduced our usage a fair bit last winter when the prices are crazy high, but we seem to be using a fair bit more their year compared to last, so the net effect of more usage and slightly lower prices is that we’re pretty much spending the same as last year, £350 last month 

[Red Beret]

People trying to use less and less energy when the energy they are using costs more and more.

Carbon footprint that's half the size but costs twice as much.

[reddebs]

We seem to be suffering from energy reduction fatigue in my house. We reduced our usage a fair bit last winter when the prices are crazy high, but we seem to be using a fair bit more their year compared to last, so the net effect of more usage and slightly lower prices is that we’re pretty much spending the same as last year, £350 last month 

We're not massive users so it's been difficult to see where we could save or cut down but turning off the microwave at the plug, using an air fryer instead of the oven and not having the radio/TV on when Paul's at work seems to be working so far.

[Red Beret]

I don't have a TV, I just go off my laptop. And I'm barely using the gas central heating, even in December. I'm not sure I cut use much less than what I already do.

[PaulF]

We're not massive users so it's been difficult to see where we could save or cut down but turning off the microwave at the plug, using an air fryer instead of the oven and not having the radio/TV on when Paul's at work seems to be working so far.

I'd imagine the radio is a tiny tiny amount? And unplugging the microwave. No reason not to unplug it, but I love the radio. I think dab radio uses a lot more than the old ones, but still a trickle. A smart speaker might use less.

[reddebs]

I'd imagine the radio is a tiny tiny amount? And unplugging the microwave. No reason not to unplug it, but I love the radio. I think dab radio uses a lot more than the old ones, but still a trickle. A smart speaker might use less.

The radio is through the TV that's why it uses loads.  The living room is lit up in the dark with the sky box, TV, WiFi, ps5, Sonos speakers and all the smoke alarms are hard wired too so there's dozens of tiny lights on all the time.

We've already used between 80p and £1.10 when I get up in the morning depending on how late Paul comes to bed 😳

[PaulF]

Ah. I suspect the tiny lights use a few pence a year. Other circuits in the box that are on a bit more.  Is it a big telly? I think they use a fair bit.

--edit-- 55" uses about 70W.  Imagine what bills would be like if we still had 60W bulbs all over the house.
-- edit edit--.  Do you keepnyour fridge and freezer fairly well stocked? I'd it's mostly air, all this flies out when you open it. Keep ice cubes or something in there if you don't normally have it full.

[reddebs]

Ah. I suspect the tiny lights use a few pence a year. Other circuits in the box that are on a bit more.  Is it a big telly? I think they use a fair bit.

--edit-- 55" uses about 70W.  Imagine what bills would be like if we still had 60W bulbs all over the house.
-- edit edit--.  Do you keepnyour fridge and freezer fairly well stocked? I'd it's mostly air, all this flies out when you open it. Keep ice cubes or something in there if you don't normally have it full.

TVs 65" and fridge and freezer are well stocked. 

The ps5 is our highest user but I've also noticed that having the heating on puts the smart meter into orange when it fires up same as the kettle or toaster.

God knows how much difference all the Xmas lights will make once I put the decorations up.  I'll have to only turn them on at night instead of all day 😂