Moreland Sanders Ch4 Dispatches re energy bills

[CherryRipe1]

jaunenglish.com/2022/04/11/dispatches-mum-says-children-are-sharing-baths-and-towels-to-save-money-on-energy-bills/
I know there have been various threads on MN about rising energy prices but did anyone see this documentary? Rising wholesale energy prices aside, another part of the problem is down to collapsing UK energy companies and the consumer picking up the tabs! Why??? Makes me angry that few or no checks were done on these companies starting up. Expose on Avro was shocking. Many people are cold and hungry & living in fear of these huge bills and the government doesn't give a fig.

What I find interesting is that I have not heard once anyone suggesting that nationalising energy might be something to at least explore.

A name like Robin Hood Energy should have been a bit of a giveaway to be fair.

But the amount we're all paying for that is small compared to the price rises with the majority of it related to wholesale prices, and a good chunk due to the cost of installing unnecessary smart meters (the first generation weren't fit for purpose) and feed in tariffs etc.

Years ago people were paid many times more the unit cost of electricity for all that they sold back to the grid and some might still be on contracts earning that amount. There were also stupid schemes like farmers being paid a fortune to heat empty barns.

While it shouldn't be the case that anyone with a laptop, which was the case for a lot of them, including Avro, can start an energy company, that's a relatively small part of the whole issue right now and we'd still be in the shit if the extra £50 or whatever this is costing us was taken off the bills.

They said it was about £7 or £8 a month per person for the collapse. I am paying for it yet I was never on one. They said people who were on one could be paying £360 more a year. Not sure why. Maybe if you were switched when one collapsed they had to estimate usage.

All the sites like Go Compare, MSE, actively encouraged consumers to exercise choice and switch. What we were never taught is how to tell if a company is financially viable / responsible. MSE showed customer service ratings, that was all. This needs to change - there needs to be far more accountability- is the company environmentally sound, run well, giving back to its communities, should be rated. I know this is idealistic and most people just care if its the cheapest deal, but it needs to happen anyway to expose bad companies earlier.

@MistySkiesAfterRain that's a god point, I just assumed the best thing was the deal I got & that companies would be regulated & robust.