Energy prices to increase dramatically from April - but support will be targeted. How would you target it?

[cakeorwine]

The energy guarantee will go from April instead of for 2 years.

The support will be targeted on the most needy.

Personally I think we need to look at some kind of tiered rates. It would need to be based on your home usage, domestic needs but some system where you get a certain amount of KWH for a certain price and then pay more for KWH if you go over that usage.

I would also look at insulating houses and try to reduce usage so less subsidy is needed for energy as well.

First however many units subsidised (based on average household usage), then market rates above that. A simple way of getting extra subsidised units if you have a medical need (eg need ventilators or whatever)…although this might be better done through benefits than the energy company…

the thing about making it for everyone is that’s really easy to implement though - anything else becomes something the energy companies have to put in their billing systems and we know how that’s going to go!

@Afterfire 😐

The government will NOT do anything that anyone could consider "clever" or "innovative". They'll simply give extra money to those on certain benefits - pension credit, UC etc

Wholesale prices are going down, and they dictate the price cap.

The April price cap will be based on the wholesale prices in the weeks beginning 17 and 24 November, so we’ll know then how much we’ll be paying from April.

@PorkPieAndAPickledOnion thanks, I couldn’t be bothered explaining to them something that’s been repeated over and over for months by every news outlet

silverclock222 in exactly the same situation. One income in to the house because I have a variety of illnesses but not benefit worthy. Also there are people on benefits earning far more than we are and there are rich pensioners. Any help needs to be based on household income and it needs to be at a sensible amount. Even at £30k I would imagine the rise in energy costs would be difficult to cover.

Because they’re based on the price of energy purchased earlier, which is how the market works. See my reply above.

I know. I don’t know why people aren’t more up on this by now, given how much if affects all of our household budgets.

That’s my point exactly - just because the papers report a headline about SIX THOUSAND POUND ENERGY BILLS FROM NEXT APRIL, doesn’t actually mean it’s true.

Look behind the headlines. Think about what the next price cap will be based on. Take a look at what wholesale energy prices have been doing recently. Look up some commentary from people who know about the energy market as to their predictions regarding whether prices will continue to fall… just engage a healthy critical eye on the headlines (all headlines), and you won’t go far wrong! 😊

@PorkPieAndAPickledOnion I guess that’s part of the problem isn’t it, people just don’t think about these things and rely on government and industry to sort it all out. We need to be much more connected to our energy supply and our food supply.

The average use figure is based on a household of 2.4 people, so restricting help to only “average” use would not provide enough help to families.

I think some kind of incentive to save energy/cap on subsidised rates is right, but it can’t leave families high & dry.

I think capped upto say £2000 then price can go up. That way people will change lifestyles and Usage, Good for environment. Everyone feels like they have some help and those that need more in benefit pension etc could get a further grant.

Thanks for your condescending reply.

I do understand how it works. I watch the news and read the news like everyone else.

It's rather worrying cause its not just pensioners and people in UC that'll struggle to pay these extortionate energy bills. If they are going to be £4500 plus a year, its going affect a lot more people than just those. No idea what they are going to do though.

They absolutely could control the prices being charged. Other countries in Europe are doing just that. www.euronews.com/next/2022/09/21/energy-bills-are-soaring-in-europe-what-are-countries-doing-to-help-you-pay-them
It's absolutely appalling that we are being thrown into poverty whilst companies like BP and Shell are declaring their highest profits in over a decade.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62382624.amp

Handing tiny amounts of money over to each household achieves absolutely nothing except rack up a huge national debt and help us limp through a difficult winter. By taxing the energy companies and capping them you are not only raising money to help families bit also sending a message that we will not be held hostage. France is seeking to nationalise EDF to control prices.
Other countries are using this as an opportunity to force a green re-focus.
If you tier support based on usage, you penalise those who have tried to be more green anyway - with electric cars your usage is higher, as with air source pumps etc.
If they want to do something useful they need to take big action. Supply solar panels at cost price to homes, subsidise battery storage for solar or wind in individual homes, pass planning for more solar farms across the UK reducing our dependency on external energy companies. Force energy companies to source more of their supply from green revenues such as wind farms, and charge it at a reasonable cost.
Those things will make a difference, both to the current energy crisis and our future because this is only going to get worse as resources are depleted. Russia isn't going to be our best friend soon. We need to make strong, long lasting changes that support the people rather than bugning them £60 a month for 6 months.

I think the least bad way of doing it is a cap on usage up to a certain amount.
There are lots of people who are just above the threshold for benefits and it feels unfair to penalise them for that, plus say pensioners who are living in a large property but are cash poor.

That’s my point exactly - just because the papers report a headline about SIX THOUSAND POUND ENERGY BILLS FROM NEXT APRIL, doesn’t actually mean it’s true

That's based on Cornwall Insights.

Who seem to have done well so far.

So we could bury our head in the sand - or we could think about how they should do it.

Northern homeworkers is who I would target it at. More North East tbh because those winds whip across from Scandinavia.

Look up some commentary from people who know about the energy market as to their predictions regarding whether prices will continue to fall

www.cityam.com/trouble-ahead-in-april-as-experts-unveil-new-gloomy-price-cap-predictions/#:~:text=Following%20the%20announcement%20that%20the%20domestic%20Energy%20Price,p%2Fa%20%E2%80%94%20Cornwall%20Insight%20%28%40CornwallInsight%29%20October%2017%2C%202022

Energy bills will rise to a whopping £4,348 per year in April, warned Cornwall Insight, unless the Government commits to further support for households.
The specialist has predicted the energy price cap will remain well above the current subsidised rates – which are already all-time highs – until 2024 at the earliest.
Cornwall Insight is not the only forecast to dust off its predictions calculator, with rival forecaster Auxilione expecting the cap to rise even higher to £4,500 per year from April.

@whenwillthemadnessend you cannot cap at a usage cost of £2000 as this is affected by the ever increasing unit costs. You would have to cap based on units used which would certainly allow people to save energy.

Handing tiny amounts of money over to each household achieves absolutely nothing except rack up a huge national debt and help us limp through a difficult winter. By taxing the energy companies and capping them you are not only raising money to help families bit also sending a message that we will not be held hostage.

absolutely @Olivetreebutter your post is spot on

I think tiered rates would be fair , then targeted help for those running medical equipment.
It's not just those on benefits that need help .

I'm not sure but I don't think people should be subsidised because they bought a large house with a large mortgage and now can't afford to heat it and use their expensive gadgets.

I believe Germany is offering the sort of support people are talking about, with help for everyone up to a certain number of kilowatt hours, and then increased prices above that, to encourage energy saving.

I do understand how it works. You’ve just shown you don’t and yet your initial comment was telling someone else they were wrong.