Energy standing charge rip off

[sairiegamp]

It occurs to me that the massive increase in standing charges is the problem. It means even when people take every step possible to minimise their bills, they are still forced into paying the huge hike.

So the balance between use and cost is out of whack. There is no way to make a real cut into the new bills.

Or am I wrong?

The standing charge works out as only about £23 per month for electricity and gas combined so its the unit costs per kWh that are driving the higher costs

The standing charge uplift is primarily to cover the cost of the energy companies that folded. So you can blame Martin Lewis for that; if he hadn’t encouraged people to shifty to flakey, unsustainable businesses those of us that chose stable businesses at a slightly higher price wouldn’t be picking up the tab now ;)

It is only £23, but it does make it harder for those with low usage already, it will already be harder to find ways to further lower usage, and that usage is a lower percentage of their bill than it would be for a person with high usage.

The standing charge changes amount to about £80 extra a year IIRC. Obviously still a lot for some people to find but it pales in comparison to the impact of the unit charge increases.

The standing charges will hit hard for those who prepay and avoid using energy in the summer months. It would be much fairer if we didn't have the charges, or it was set at a minimum to cover costs so you only paid for your own usage.

That's so helpful thanks. I don't know why I didn't check my facts before posting. Doh!

@Tryingtokeepgoing

The standing charge uplift is primarily to cover the cost of the energy companies that folded. So you can blame Martin Lewis for that; if he hadn’t encouraged people to shifty to flakey, unsustainable businesses those of us that chose stable businesses at a slightly higher price wouldn’t be picking up the tab now ;)

Bit mean picking on Martin Lewis.

I have always switched. I use comparison sites. Looked at the deals. Looked at the companies and decided if they looked ok.
Had some great deals.
But Tonik collapsed.
Went to SSE - thought their deal was too high so went for Pure Planet.
Who were great. Until they collapsed.

Blame the regulators.

The issue is that we effectively are going back to an oligarchy for utilities, reducing competition, reducing prices.

The standing charges are an an absolute disgrace imo, they may only be adding £80/year if pp's maths is accurate, but that is very significant on top of the unit increases. And let's be honest, we know prices won't be dropped at such a rate and reflect true prices, you only have to look at the petrol prices etc to see the time lags and reluctance for this.
I mean look at the graphic showing the increases. They could make savings and tighten belts, they're choosing not to.
Equally, I was shocked when I looked into the caps, how different areas have different caps! This is imo totally unacceptable. Given we're all effectively on one network, there shouldn't be any such disparity. It already irks me thtlat fuel is charged in this way.

On the price cap from April, the standing charge a day for electricity is about 45p and gas is 27p, times this by 365 and I get around £260 a year not £80.

This is from MSE site

Yeah we should really be questioning whether it's ok for private companies to charge us £300 a year for the privilege of having gas and electricity available

@Meandyouandyouandme

On the price cap from April, the standing charge a day for electricity is about 45p and gas is 27p, times this by 365 and I get around £260 a year not £80.

Yes, I said the 'changes' not the whole cost. The difference between pre-cap change and post was about £80 last I looked.

Ye s, people who are low electricity users are equally burdened by bailing out failed utilities and the cost of maintaining the system. I can see the logic behind it. I know on mg the assumption is that all high handsets are hot tub using, daily towel washing, tumble dryer using spendthrift but they areas equally likely to be larger families, multi-generational families, those with chronic illnesses who need to stay warm to manage their health and I confess a moral burden for these people to pick up the tab either.

Confess = don't see

Sorry for that hash of a post, writing on a new tablet with crazy autocorrect weirdness.

yes this really frustrates me too, especially if you live in a small place, alone - you still pay the same standing charge, but as a result, it's a much greater proportion of your bill, and there's nothing you can do to reduce it even if you reduce your energy usage as much as you can.

@Hugasauras ah sorry I didn’t read it clearly enough. It’s a cost that we can’t do anything about so seems an unfair increase.

@LaurieFairyCake

Yeah we should really be questioning whether it's ok for private companies to charge us £300 a year for the privilege of having gas and electricity available

It's more galling for those of us that did not opt to change to a flakey company for a better rate, we're effectively paying for it. We chose not to opt for a flakey company because we felt their prices were not sustainable should the cost of electricity increase unsustainably (we thought it'd be to do with decommissioning of coal and lack of investment in nuclear) and felt that these cheaper companies would have some get out clause to hike the cost right up to cover their past cheapness, we didn't think they'd be allowed to fold and the companies taking over wouldn't charge those customers a lot more to compensate. We were wrong.

It’s utterly ridiculous to blame Martin Lewis. This is the governments fault and no one else’s. Margaret Thatcher privatised the energy companies in the 80’s and laid the groundwork for this to happen. The European countries who still have publicly owned energy haven’t seen anything like the rises we have here in the uk. Time to nationalise our energy again.

Yeah our SC is going from 24p to 48p for electric and similar sort of increase for gas. Fucking disgusting tbh. They’ve got us by the balls and no one who can do something about it gives a fuck.

I’ve yet to hear a good reason why it’s happening that doesn’t still result in billionaires / billionaire corporations somewhere in the world lining their pockets.

And our water companies, while we’re at it.

What I don't get is why the water company is just based on my area, but for energy it seems like you are just choosing who you want to send you a bill? The energy all comes from the same place if my neighbour and I are with different companies right?

But if we get renewables how will the companies make money if the SC isn’t high?

if you get solar panels then you’ll not use as much electric and by increasing the standing charge it means companies will still have a steady income from you

octupuss we’re found to be draining solar batteries energy and so the customer was then having to buy the electric at night at a higher charge - they’ve cottoned on and switched of access - but these companies are determined to make money

I'm with Outfox the Market and I had an email today telling me about the reduction in energy cost and they're increasing the standing charge, it's going from £270 per year to over £300 per year, I work at sea and I'm out of the country 6 months of the year with everything switched off at the mains, it has to be one of the biggest rip offs going and the price is set by offgem, the people who are supposed to look after us, this country sucks