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Original poster

Price Cap - Just announced

994 replies

swifttwist · 26/08/2022 07:03

From £1971 to £3549. 80% rise. I have no words.

New figures:

Electricity
£0.52 per kWh
Daily standing charge: £0.46

Gas:
£0.15 per kWh
Daily standing charge: £0.28

OP posts:
Thread gallery
13
Igotjelly · 26/08/2022 07:32

I hadn’t realised that businesses don’t benefit from the price cap (if anyone does anymore). There was a poor man on the news who has seen his bill jump from £14k to well over £100k meaning his business has had to fold, the impact of all this runs much deeper than household pockets.

hopeishere · 26/08/2022 07:32

Also doesn't apply in NI so we're even more fucked.

BrownTableMat · 26/08/2022 07:33

The figures for standing charge and price per kWh have been given upthread and are also being reported in the media, though you have to read past the headline.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Cost of living
Original poster
swifttwist · 26/08/2022 07:33

Martin Lewis will be on Good Morning Britain, just after 8 if anyone wants to tune in and watch.

OP posts:
Hugasauras · 26/08/2022 07:34

Again, there is no cap on what you can pay. If you use £6,000 of energy then you have to pay £6,000. The cap is only on the amount charged per unit, not the overall amount you can be charged for what you used. It's best to ignore the headline £ figure entirely and go through your own bills go work out your own usage and use that to calculate costs. I agree that it shouldn't be used – it's meant to illustrate costs for a typical household but variances in usage are so huge that it's meaningless and actually causes more confusion.

In short, ignore the £3,500 figure, use the unit rates to work out your own costs.

nellytheelephant1980 · 26/08/2022 07:34

I actually feel sick. We pay £300 a month so 80% on that takes us to £540 which is more than our mortgage. How can this possibly be?

nellytheelephant1980 · 26/08/2022 07:35

And my figure above is before we've put the heating on, which we just won't be able to do this winter

JustTheOneSwan · 26/08/2022 07:35

If you don't know how many kwh you use the %is a rough guide.
whatever you pay now (unless you are fixed rate) 80% more in October.

Treaclex69 · 26/08/2022 07:35

@Crunchymum Me too and I already cannot fathom why my electric alone is £150 per month when I have solar panels.
I work from home as a childminder so you can imagine how concerned I am at having to keep everyone warm. I also have the added pressure of parents already cutting hours to try and claw any savings they can make which isn't a lot but every little bit helps.
I'm seriously considering closing which would drastically cut my energy usage and food costs otherwise staying open means I'll be forced to increase my fees. I feel absolutely stuck especially with the knowledge of lack of childcare currently and with the chatter of schools shortening their days people will need childcare as would I.

BarryBantam · 26/08/2022 07:35

Not much of a bloody cap is it?

Original poster
swifttwist · 26/08/2022 07:36

Hugasauras · 26/08/2022 07:24

New figures:
Electricity
£0.52 per kWh
Daily standing charge: £0.46

Gas:

£0.15 per kWh
Daily standing charge: £0.28

Do you mind if I ask HQ if it’s possible to incorporate your post into my OP?

OP posts:
Hugasauras · 26/08/2022 07:37

@swifttwist

Not at all!

17CherryTreeLane · 26/08/2022 07:38

I already pay £540, so this will increase to around £970! I'm looking into solar as most of it is electricity.

CloseYourEyesAndSee · 26/08/2022 07:39

Givenitarest · 26/08/2022 07:30

catsinthesuitcase I completely agree. I'm not thick but I'm finding this 'price cap' figure meaningless to me beyond knowing the obvious that it's a bigger number than it was before? As a price cap does it mean that if you use much larger amounts of electricity a year ie. Live in a mansion it might actually work out cheaper for you because they can't charge you anymore than £3500 a year?

If they just broke it down to the KWH charge and the standing charge I would stand a fighting chance of working out how much my bill was last year Vs what it's going to be, as a minimum, for the same usage this year. Although having said that, my British Gas App is totally shit at giving me an exact year to compare. Some of my PDF bills aren't downloadable or are missing so I'm trying to extrapolate an annual use from 9 months of info. Does anyone else find it difficult to easily find their annual usage?! It's like they're making it deliberately difficult.

The price cap isn't a cap. There is no maximum annual charge, so your mansion owner will pay what they use even if that's £7k per year. It's a cap on unit price and the annual figure is just average use at that price.

Lemonblossom · 26/08/2022 07:39

The other hidden issue is that many people think they’re in credit but they are not. British Gas for example bills me in six monthly chunks. So it can look like I’m in credit on the app because I have made payments each month but then when my six monthly bill comes along it can wipe that all out and more putting me in a debit situation.

I’ve been asking them to generate an extra bill each month so that I can keep on top of it. It means I always look like I’m in debit during the winter but not quite as much but it also gives me a far better idea of the reality of the situation.

British Gas reckons we will use over 11,000 units of electricity this year. I’m determined that we won’t but if we did that would be an electricity bill of £6,000. We don’t have gas but our heating and hot water isn’t electric it’s oil so we also spend a few thousand each year on oil.

Treaclex69 · 26/08/2022 07:40

17CherryTreeLane · 26/08/2022 07:38

I already pay £540, so this will increase to around £970! I'm looking into solar as most of it is electricity.

Unless you pay to be able to store what you generate it really isn't that great.

CloseYourEyesAndSee · 26/08/2022 07:40

nellytheelephant1980 · 26/08/2022 07:34

I actually feel sick. We pay £300 a month so 80% on that takes us to £540 which is more than our mortgage. How can this possibly be?

Are you using £300 per month? Are you in credit? Do you know your average use and unit cost?

Swedecabbagelime · 26/08/2022 07:40

If you want to know how much you’ll be using this winter - find your bill from last winter. We get quarterly bills so I have my figures for last December- February. The bill will have how many k wh you’ve used in that time period. - calculate how many kWh this is per 30 days. Use the kWh figures at the new prices which are quoted on this thread to work out what you’ll pay this winter if your usage stays the same as last winter. (you can also knock off the £66 from the government)
you can’t just add 80% to the direct debit amount as that’s not reflecting actual usage and also it’s summer right now.

Cheerfulcharlie · 26/08/2022 07:40

Is this likely to be a fairly temporary spike in prices ? Will next winter be lower prices?

Bunnycat101 · 26/08/2022 07:41

@Igotjelly I agree - Martin Lewis has been warning of this level of rise for months and he’s been accused of catastrophising and subject to a lot of abuse.

This really is worrying for those households on a lower income but also businesses that are already struggling. I saw a childminder has already said on this thread she’s worried - the early years sector is already challenged. This could be the thing that tips many providers over the edge.

RedRiverShore2 · 26/08/2022 07:41

The price cap is a median figure not an average figure

Any help should be targeted, people like those on MN that wash towels daily and tumble dry them for softness even in the summer should not be getting discounts that others will end up paying for

Hugasauras · 26/08/2022 07:44

Cheerfulcharlie · 26/08/2022 07:40

Is this likely to be a fairly temporary spike in prices ? Will next winter be lower prices?

So far it looks like another ~20% on top of this rise in Jan and then down slightly but still at much inflated levels compared to now.

MinervaTerrathorn · 26/08/2022 07:44

Looks like mine would have been going up to £134 a month if I hadn't fixed in March, and that's just based on the October to December cap, not considering the January rise!

Redqueenheart · 26/08/2022 07:45

I just saw a tweet from a pensioner just who said he was simply going to refuse to pay any of these outrageous utility bills.

His reasoning was that at his age he does not give a damn about being in debt and that it is more important for him not to die of hypothermia and to have enough money to buy food this winter.

I think when even pensioners start to revolt like this it is a sign that people are starting to wake up to this and simply refusing to be be exploited.

The result of this madness if it is not brought back under control by government will be small businesses folding, mass protest and payment strikes.

Sporty2022 · 26/08/2022 07:46

This is going to be worse than covid. The government acted very quickly then, why not now? I can’t believe the government is doing nothing.
Boris has given up and there’s a fight between two PM candidates.

I can only think the government actually want people to die, some kind of hidden agenda.