Surely they can’t expect us to pay 240 per month for power!

[Ellie198712]

Just read Martin Lewis’s latest email and it’s predicting average bills of £2900 per year!! Surely the government will need to step in and subsidise this cost. Our current bill is about 100 per month, and this just seems untenable for the vast majority

I’m on shell flexible 6 moving to 7. Our bill will go from £93 per month to £143 per month.

I don’t understand why everyone is paying so much more, I know the cost is rising but we aren’t particularly tight with our usage and aren’t cold either.

Dishwasher runs at least twice a day
Washing machine 3-4 times x per week
2 people shower/bath daily. Plus 3-4 extra baths for DD.
We don’t turn things off at night.
Heating on for an hour or 2 first thing and set to come on if the temp drops below 16.
We wfh do computers all day.

We do have led bulbs, turn lights off if we leave the room and reasonable insulation.

We are in UK. What are people doing differently?

@bluetongue

As an Australian I’m not an expert in UK heating but the one thing I noticed every time I’ve visited the UK (and most other European countries) is how high the temperature is inside in winter. Most of the time the first thing I do when I get to a hotel room is turn the heat down. It’s stifling!

Perhaps this is the result of my frugal upbringing but I’ve always only used heating or cooling when really needed. Now my house is probably too far on the other end of the spectrum. One gas heater in my living room and single glazed, old, wooden framed windows. Winter overnight temperatures get down to single digits where I am. I’m not suggesting everyone live like this but there must be a happy medium. Put a jumper on and put a rug over you when you watch TV. Turn the heating temperature down a bit.

I second this - as a South African in the Uk. Obviously I didn't grow up with the feeezing temps you have over winter here (although we do get quite cold in SA winters still - especially at night - we even have snow in places). But it took some great adjustment when I moved here because it's freezing outside in winter and then inside it's like a warm summer day. Going into a home or shop was so difficult because you'd have to take off all the layers you put on to be outside and then carry them around with you while shopping etc.

@StupidUsernameUnavailable

Anyone on Shell Energy, Flexible 6 tariff? If so, has anyone been told yet what their monthly DDebits are going up to? All I've got is a message on my front screen saying that I will be affected by the price cap increase and that I should amend my monthly payment to X amount based on usage predictions (I give monthly meter reads) but the suggested amount is LESS then my current payment....!! Any ideas??

Shell Flexible 7. We've been notified ours is estimated to increase by £80 a month but no notification of the payment yet.

But you need sun for solar panels.... (hence why this is not such a beneficial option for many of us in the UK!!) There is also lots of talk of banning wood burners altogether over here

This is true, as it is true that in Australia we don't have the extreme cold you have in the UK. We need good insulation but don't need double glazing.

You'd be surprised however how little sun solar panels need to be effective in reducing your energy bill. I think one of the issues is if the UK government subsidise solar (I don't know) as the outlay can be expensive.

@TolkiensFallow you need to compare you standing charged and unit prices to other people, not your overall monthly cost, or it means nothing Unless everyone comparing monthly prices lives in the same type/ size/ insulated house.

@TolkiensFallow Monthly prices are fairly meaningless and may not reflect current prices yet. For example we currently pay £94 a month because Octopus haven't yet changed our DD, but our annual charge now work out at about £220 pm, I've signed up to a fixed rate at just under 15% above the April 22 price cap, to provide protection if prices go sky high next winter.

You must be quite a low user if £143 genuinely is enough to cover your usage at April 22 prices, let alone expected further increases, as the April 22 price cap is £164 pm based on not a huge usage.

Plus a lot of people on here do a lot more than 3-4 washes a week, use the tumble dryer and heat their house a lot more than you say you do.

@Alondra

But you need sun for solar panels.... (hence why this is not such a beneficial option for many of us in the UK!!) There is also lots of talk of banning wood burners altogether over here

This is true, as it is true that in Australia we don't have the extreme cold you have in the UK. We need good insulation but don't need double glazing.

You'd be surprised however how little sun solar panels need to be effective in reducing your energy bill. I think one of the issues is if the UK government subsidise solar (I don't know) as the outlay can be expensive.

They used to. Most properties with significant numbers of solar panels did it 10-15 years ago when they were being heavily subsidised- my dad did this, and they paid for themselves in only 5 years.

@TheRealistBub

I do not understand how some of these prices are so high. Are you people swanning around in T shirts with the heating at over 20 degrees?

We have a medium sized house and are on a fixed rate which costs about £90 a month during winter for gas and leccy combined.

In my case it's my husband. He cannot cope / refuses to cope with the cold. He's originally from a very hot country and although he's lived here nearly half his life he's never got used to the cold.

I have had so many conversations about how we cannot have the heating on full blast (yes really) day and night and after each one he comes to me to proudly tell me he's turned the heating off 🙄 then an hour later he's 'had' to turn it back on because ... Wait for it...

Our cat is so cold she's suffering and she can't cope. She's curled into a tiny ball and is tucking herself into places to try to get warm.

Yes.

You read right.

@HereComesSpringAgain

£240 a month is equal to our sky tv and mobile phone costs

so its a choice we will need to make

This. Discretionary spending is what will go first. Entertainment, clothes, holidays

Ours is estimated to increase by almost £900. We are going to start thinking about turning off some radiators, staying in one main room in the evenings, thermals etc. it’s ridiculous. We are not on the breadline by any means, but no household can just absorb these costs like this without cutting elsewhere and I really feel for those who are on the cusp of poverty. This is going to push many families over the edge. Awful.

To the pp who asked if things are the same in Europe: to some extent. The country i live in doesn't have a price cap (as far as i know), so prices have been increasing, but it also means that we're not seeing the major sudden increase that everyone in the UK is now experiencing at the same time. Prices pretty much doubled/trippled in December, but are now back down again.

The good thing though is that almost everyone who lives rent has their heating included in the rent (and rents can't rise by more than a fixed % each year). So at least many low-income households are somewhat protected from price increases

@BarbaraofSeville
yeah I guess we just wear fairly warm clothes I’m winter because … well it’s winter.

I probably should do more washing a week to keep properly on top of it but I’d struggle to dry it and find the tumble dryer wrecks clothes a bit. I did deliberately buy a washing machine with the biggest drum I could find though so can do quite a lot in a wash.

We have blankets and hot water bottles but that’s because we like them rather than need them. We also use a thicker tog duvet in winter.

Slightly mind blown by so many people heating their houses to 20+ is that all day? Do they not have jumpers?

Don't complain if you drive a Chelsea Tractor. Or drive one mile instead of walking with your child to school.

For everyone else, right to be concerned, and to look for ways to reduce your energy bill. Whilst I applaud Martin Lewis for the warning, hopefully it won't come to be the reality.

@TolkiensFallow

I’m on shell flexible 6 moving to 7. Our bill will go from £93 per month to £143 per month.

I don’t understand why everyone is paying so much more, I know the cost is rising but we aren’t particularly tight with our usage and aren’t cold either.

Dishwasher runs at least twice a day
Washing machine 3-4 times x per week
2 people shower/bath daily. Plus 3-4 extra baths for DD.
We don’t turn things off at night.
Heating on for an hour or 2 first thing and set to come on if the temp drops below 16.
We wfh do computers all day.

We do have led bulbs, turn lights off if we leave the room and reasonable insulation.

We are in UK. What are people doing differently?

Sound like what we do minus the working at home and dw on once a day

But as I said I pay £170 and going up to £275

Not sure why yours was /is so cheap

[quote Clarabe1]@somewhereovertherain I think if I remember correctly when we did try to invest in nuclear the nimbys and the batty green protesters were lying down in front of diggers and other such nonsense.[/quote]
Not sure about nimbys they where looking to bulls a nuclear plant near where I live and most people and the council where behind it but the funders pulled out.

We’ve started heading for net zero when we are miles away from being able to provide energy under net zero.

Our cat is so cold she's suffering and she can't cope. She's curled into a tiny ball and is tucking herself into places to try to get warm

We have cats and I do wonder if they get cold, especially if we're reducing the heating to try and reduce the cost. But I am thinking probably not unless they're old/ill or very young (we foster rescue cats so often have nursing mothers/kittens, who naturally all pile up together whatever the temperature.

But we have a couple of these that I use if I'm concerned that the kittens are cold, so if he's serious about putting the heating on 'for the cat' then one of these, tucked into one of her favourite sleeping places might be a worthwhile investment?

I'm not sure I believe prices will go up so much. Pensioners get £720 per month state pension, what would be the point of charging them more than that for fuel? The prisons would be full of aged debtors needing care!

I think people have become used to being wasteful with power and everything else.

In my old office there were complaints when the temp wasn't at sweaty level as lots of people were too cold in their T shirts. No idea why jumpers are unacceptable.

My new next door neighbour has been living there for nearly 2 years and has never put washing on the line in the summer. It might be hanging around the house but more likely everything is tumble dried.

And don't get me started on the energy and resources going into fast fashion...

Here in France, EDF is still mostly state-owned and certainly under a high level of government control. They have been forced to cap 2022 electricity increases at 4%, and to sell (nuclear) power to their competitors at way way below the market cost. This makes them a bit of a basket case as a company but does mean that our electricity bills won't go up too much, at least in the short term. There is nothing like the deregulation of the energy market here as there has been in the UK - EDF was forced to release I think 20% of it's output to competitors in 1999 but they still have a monopoly on ownership of the nuclear power stations etc. This attracts a lot of criticism (that they deliberately run down production levels to push the price up) but atm the state-owned company / government ownership and control seems to be protecting consumers. Just having the alternative of nuclear makes a big difference here though.

Gaz de France / Engie is similarly under government controls. Price increases capped at 4% this year.

Someone upthread mentioned the 'social contract'... this is a concept that is very strong in France, it's referred to frequently by politicians / policy makers and seen as the basis for a functioning society.

And yes, French people protest about these things. Remember the 'gilets jaunes'? They were largely protesting against steady rises in cost of living and lowering of state services. If French people were presented with the kinds of energy price increases being outlined here for the UK, they would be out on the streets en masse.

They won't go to jail, they'll end up on a prepayment meter.

I've read that smart meters can be turned into prepayment meters remotely by power companies but I'm not sure if that's a theoretical possibility or if it's something that actually do.

This is what I'm showing at the moment.

I just can't get my head around it! Bizarre 🤷‍♀️ I'm taking it with a massive pinch of salt!

We paid £290 last month , dreading next month and god help us in October. £700 to fix right now

@whiteroseredrose

I think people have become used to being wasteful with power and everything else.

In my old office there were complaints when the temp wasn't at sweaty level as lots of people were too cold in their T shirts. No idea why jumpers are unacceptable.

My new next door neighbour has been living there for nearly 2 years and has never put washing on the line in the summer. It might be hanging around the house but more likely everything is tumble dried.

And don't get me started on the energy and resources going into fast fashion...

That's certainly the case for many better off high users who up to now have just used as much as they like because they can easily afford it and won't think about obvious easy ways to reduce their consumption until they get much higher bills and think 'how fucking much'.

Just look at all the people who talk about 'multiple quick washes and a day and always tumble dry' even when they have a garden and the weather is good on any discussion about doing laundry on here.

How many businesses will.go under because people won't have the money to spend on days out, holidays, meals out etc. I think its going to have a massive knock on effect on those. It's a joke

@StupidUsernameUnavailable

This is what I'm showing at the moment.

I just can't get my head around it! Bizarre 🤷‍♀️ I'm taking it with a massive pinch of salt!

That is indeed bizarre. £55 pm barely even covers the new standing charges. You do have a bit of credit, but that's only about one month's supply at the rates coming in next month.