Sick of the press and government lying about energy price increases

[AsNormalTheyAreLying]

Is anyone else tired of hearing this 50% increase bandied around?

In october my gas unit price was 2.6 it's now 7.8 that's a 300% increase in 6 months. October electric was 11.2 now its 28.2 not as much as the gas but still 250%

gas standing charge october 16.7 now 27.2 around 170% increase,
electric standing charge october 18.6 now 42.2 around a 225%.

I know the 50% figure is based on the march to april price rise on the default tariff but for anyone who actually cared enough to shop around energy price rises on the part of the bill you control are closer to 300%- remembering on average households use 3 times the amount of gas so the rise on that needs to be weighted more.

Politicians spin things but come on aibu to be so sick of hearing this 50% amount?

Your calculations are wrong. I can't be bothered doing the maths for each one....but for example....

gas standing charge
october 16.7
now 27.2

That's a 62% increase, not 170% increase. Its 162% of original but only increased by 62%. Big difference.

Might have also been exacerbated that your previous tarrif was a fixed one, or discounted below the cap, and that's come to an end. So for you its ended up being worse than 50%.

Regardless of the calculations (as PP suggested), it's really shit OP.

Remember, don't vote Tory at the next election. They really do not give a flying fuck.

Agree with PP, your calculations are wrong.

The increase was on the original price cap. If you were on a fixed rate and went onto the new price cap then your increase could indeed be more than 54%.

But yes, your maths is completely wrong

Yes you're right on the maths it's not a 300% increase but 300% of the original. I've got increase and amount all mixed up. Which I guess is why the gov are using 50% increase as the figure because it sounds smaller and it will obfuscate the actual amount people are having to pay as I doubt I'm the only one that would make that mistake.

But even the lowest of my numbers which you've worked the % increase out for shows a rise above what the gov are talking about.

Unit price of the gas going from 2.6 to 7.8 will treble what I actually pay for it. And according to www.experian.co.uk/blogs/latest-thinking/small-business/percentage-calculator/ is a 200% increase which is far and away above 50%

I did say I shopped around so you're right I was on a deal from nov 2020 but my point was anyone who was conscious of prices will have been on deals. So the real increase in the last 6 months for people who bothered to shop around is far and away above the 50% figure

Also I've never voted tory this shitshow is not even slightly of my making

The oft quoted 54% increase is for a normal customer. You are moaning because you are abnormal.

The average customer is just a random figure. Like you my costs have increased similarly so 3x what I was paying last September. It’s the KWh cost that’s gone from 2.36 to 7.49 for me for gas and 14 to 28.6p for electricity. Standing charges are also up.
It’s a similar story with inflation. I’ve noticed certain food items have gone up 10-15%. Non food things as well.
I’m now looking to improve insulation as well as turning down the thermostat.

I agree. Because it makes people think it will only be going up an additional 50% in most cases. Regardless of whether you were on a fixed tariff or what before.. most examples and myself, they'll be paying double or 150% more. Some people's has tripled. We have cut down our energy usage by half compared to last year, due to having a new boiler and thermostat, turning that right down and being more frugal (switching everything off, less baths and showers and colder laundry washes). Our bill is still going to double and a little bit more!

I think some folk on this thread are missing the point

The government have been bullshitting all along

Apparently the increases will be 3-4 years!!

Bit like the NI hike which is a bigger increase then the headline.

At least it was not written on the side of a bus, unlike a certain number in 2016.

I totally know that the gov have been bullshitting everyone the whole time. I've never voted for this crowd of corrupt charlatans and I never will. But, when you see articles so callled criticising the gov and saying 'people are finding it hard, bills have increased by 50%' you'd think they'd stress the point it's often more than that.

agree with pp re inflation

We never fixed a price (because DH was adamant there'd be some catch it all clause to demand repayment at inflated price to cover a firm's losses should the general rate go up - as opposed to what actually happened and the firms offering cheap fixes went bust = no penalty to those that fixed. So ours has only went up by the cap. Which is do-able. We don't use a lot anyway. But what annoys me is the fact the direct debit is almost double what it was, and the electricity company insist in holding a sum equivalent to the whole of the next bill + a further 50%, in hand, in winter and thus I have to waste time arguing the point that a) we need a refund and b) we need a lower direct debit amount. Setting their own figures plucked out of thin air, and not based on actual usage is what's not fair.

Wrong. Calcs as previously spelled out

Also were you on a fix previously. They increases they talk about are only based on the standard variable tariffs (which are subject to the price cap), not from your old fix which expired and then you've moved onto the standard variable set at the price cap. They are always very clear in the media that it is the price cap that is increasing and affects those on standard variable tariffs and it will be even bigger increases for people who are coming off of old, cheap, fixed deals.

I will never vote Tory but sounds like you're trying to pin your own misunderstanding on them (when it's OFGEM and the media who are doing the number crunching and reporting on bills - and accurately I would say)

Yes it's shit and yes it's more than doubled in a year but that doesn't change the fact that the price cap went up by 54% last friday, so it's not a lie to say that.

75% of people are currently on the price cap and even in times where you could save hundreds of pounds a year by fixing, the majority never did - I remember reading that about two thirds of people were usually on the price cap, so it was set to protect those people from having to hop from fix to fix.

No-one's lying. You just have to remember that a headline rarely tells the whole story, whether about the cost of energy or anything else. Any news story is usually so full of words or phrases like 'may' 'could' or 'is expected to' that it's meaningless if you want to know what the situation is so you always need to find the actual source, rather than the media or government's interpretation of it.

They have to compare the cap between periods because that’s the only way it makes sense. Comparing individual deals skews things massively. My gas standing charge has actually gone down because of the deal I was on before but that wouldn’t be the case for everyone.

Yes as already confirmed I was on a deal from nov 2020. I am generally on a deal as letting yourself roll onto standard tariff is, in normal times, throwing money away.

I very much understand this is the price increase on the standard tariff which is regulated. My point, which some of you are really working hard to miss, is that people who are price conscious were never on this tariff so their costs have increased much more. It's not a moan- thanks jcyclops- it's pointing out this doesn't apply to anyone who was paying attention to their bills.

I'd be interested to know what proportion of uk households were on a standard tariff in a normal year as no one in my circle was.

@BarbaraofSeville

Yes it's shit and yes it's more than doubled in a year but that doesn't change the fact that the price cap went up by 54% last friday, so it's not a lie to say that.

75% of people are currently on the price cap and even in times where you could save hundreds of pounds a year by fixing, the majority never did - I remember reading that about two thirds of people were usually on the price cap, so it was set to protect those people from having to hop from fix to fix.

No-one's lying. You just have to remember that a headline rarely tells the whole story, whether about the cost of energy or anything else. Any news story is usually so full of words or phrases like 'may' 'could' or 'is expected to' that it's meaningless if you want to know what the situation is so you always need to find the actual source, rather than the media or government's interpretation of it.

Cross posted, thanks. Obviously my family and peer group are far from the normal with regards to this then.

I did use an emotive title but if you read my op it does actually then go on the say spin not lying. I know it's not technically a lie. I guess it's along the same lines as Jack Monroe talking about the inflation on food basics being massively above the headline rate for food inflation. The headline rate isn't a lie but it sure as hell will feel like it to some people.

Percentages are actually very tricky things.
eg a 20% increase on £100 = 100+20 = 120
However a 20% reduction on £120 = 120-24 = 96

There are better ways of stating increases.
eg a 50% increase = half as much again
a 100% increase = double

i was on a standard tariff, laziness really

It's not the calculations I stuggle with but the concepts so I'd worked them out roughly in my head real quick but was thinking thats 3x so 300% or that 1.7x so 170% which I realise is wrong and I've added 100% to evrything becasue I've included the initial amount in the increase which it shouldn't be

initial op should be
In october my gas unit price was 2.6 it's now 7.8 that's a 200% increase in 6 months. October electric was 11.2 now its 28.2 not as much as the gas but still 150%

gas standing charge october 16.7 now 27.2 around 70% increase,
electric standing charge october 18.6 now 42.2 around a 125%.

These were just rough though FarmGirl78 will be correct and it's 62 not 70%. I have been saying 50 not 54 I wasn't going for exact just pointing out just how far out 50 was on cost of increase for a lot of people