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 don’t know what to do! My cheap fix ends in a few months, current cheapest fix they can offer me is £335!!! Up from £138. Martin Lewis still saying don’t fix but last week there were plenty on here saying they were glad they hadn’t listened to him and had fixed before prices continued to rise… I can see this, last week when I logged in the quote was £269! Aargh. People are just not going to be able to pay these prices, surely!

The difference is the French Government actually cares. Ours doesn’t.

Just the small matter of upcoming elections to concentrate the mind.

Yeap our bill has gone from £85 a month to £213, not feeling great about these next few years

I've had a pay freeze for the last eighteen months (teacher). DH never gets a pay rise. I hope the govt helps those who need it most but at the same time there will come a point at which it won't be worth having a reasonably well-paid job. I have a 65 mile daily commute to worry about too

@Iamadietstarter

why are we still paying the 5% VAT on fuel? Surely this should be the first thing to go

Because the more prices go up the more the government make from this!

I hope this encourages the government to invest massively in insulation and renewables.

It was calculated some time ago (can't find the source at the moment) that the government could insulate avery home in the UK for much less than the cost of underwriting the building, running and ultimate decommissioning of one nuclear power station.

But the government won't do this, because it would mean giving "public" money to individuals (i.e. the public) to increase the value of their houses by a few thousand pounds, which is politically unacceptable. The only acceptable use of public money is to give it - billions of pounds at a time - to multinational companies that will pay little or no tax but will offers seats on their boards to the liars & crooks when their political careers fail.

There has been so much evidence waved right in front of people's eyes recently that the government is openly corrupt but people refuse to take any notice. Because, well, "Boris" is a giggle, innee? And wharabout that Diane Abbott, eh? So we'll all freeze & starve while a bunch of worthless Old Etonians steal everything and we'll blame each other instead of them.

Maybe there needs to be better regulation of the salaries and profits and shareholder dividends of energy companies. I know a pp said they were taking huge hits but the directors of these companies still have ginormous salaries and live in extraordinary wealth (while telling their customers just to put on another jumper or hug their cat).
Shareholder dividends should also be suspended until the situation improves.

But I expect they are insuring against such regulation by big donations to the Conservatives or 'lobbying' MPs.

I’ve started a similar thread today. Ours is up £2,3k pa on 2020-21. Some of that (£600) is an electric car charge at £50pm but the rest is increased charges.

Luckily we have an open fire, costs about £2 per night in logs. Heating won't be on much next winter, same for lights if room not being used

It will hit some hard, others not so much. On mumsnet the whole country are either super rich or living under the poverty line. In real life more people have hot tubs/designer dogs/designer clothes and fancy holidays than ever before. So a significant percentage of the population will squawk but pay up. Others will be in real trouble.

Documentary from 1969 - about poverty, housing conditions, low wages. "Robert Kee reports on what it is like to bring up a family in St. Ann's, a small, decaying ward scheduled for demolition, in the otherwise prosperous city of Nottingham. Here, 30,000 people live in appalling conditions reminiscent of the depressed 'thirties - bathrooms are a rarity and the lavatory is across the yard. Houses built in the latter part of the 19th century are damp and cramped and every penny has to be watched."
Thames TV's 1969 documentary on Nottingham's slums, introduced here by Ray Gosling in 1993:

Could we go back to how things were then?

@Cheesecakeandwineinasuitcase it's so sad. Feels like we are going back progress wise...
Virus, climate, poverty ,war etc I'm not sure I have faith that things will improve going forward...

The government made a huge error giving away millions in grants to middle classes (and above) to install electric charging points.
That money would have been far better invested in creating more dedicated cycle paths - we will all be cycling a lot more now electricity costs more.

Ours has jumped from £60/month to £190. And we have solar panels so our day time electricity use is generally quite low. I'm really worried for us because food and fuel prices have also rocketed. I don't know how people on the breadline will manage to be honest. We are both in professional jobs with a modest mortgage but with two kids in nursery have very little left over as it is. It's very worrying the way things are going and a lot of people are going to go in to debt.

Worrying times indeed. I do really worry for those on the lowest incomes as it will be a choice of heat or eat.

It’s not going to be good. I guess people will have to use less. I think most of us can be a little more careful with things like turning off things we aren’t using. It won’t hit as hard at first as spring is coming but by next winter things will be much tougher and people will have to choose food or heat which is awful.

Who can afford a fucking electric car in the first place?

@Darbs76

It’s not going to be good. I guess people will have to use less. I think most of us can be a little more careful with things like turning off things we aren’t using. It won’t hit as hard at first as spring is coming but by next winter things will be much tougher and people will have to choose food or heat which is awful.

There's no denying around those huge standing charges though.

*getting

@lorking

The difference is the French Government actually cares. Ours doesn’t.

The French wouldn't take it though & would strike/revolt.

I think the fact that the French get a big proportion of their energy from their own generated nuclear power has protected them much more than the UK from the rise in the price of oil/gas.

Hindsight eh?

Still the UK is a windy island surrounded by sea, so if we can't be self sufficient with wind and hydro power no-one can. Lack of investment, all profits historically have gone to crazy rich executives and shareholders of these energy companies.

The government made a huge error giving away millions in grants to middle classes (and above) to install electric charging points

We paid for ours

I feel really lucky. My bill has gone up and it will be a struggle but I can afford it, just.
I ignored the “do nothing” advice and took a three year fix last October for electricity. I was looking today and the cheapest fix I can see now is only 12 months and the price per kWh is almost three times my fixed rate.

@Rowgtfc72

I remember the 70s too. The rubbish on the streets. Both me and my toddler brothers job was to get the candles when the lights went out. My parents tired faces. Sitting in coats. And now, 50 years on, we're here again.

And it's a Tory government in charge of it like last time, people never learn

@BitterTits

Who can afford a fucking electric car in the first place?

Certainly not me (second-hand recycling of rich people's cast-offs here).

Which is why the taxpayer paying for these people's home charging points is absolutely ridiculous. If you can afford an electric car in the first place then you can afford a charging point.

As I said, that money should have paid for dedicated cycle paths or shared pedestrian/cycle paths that would benefit everyone.