1st energy bill since the rise.

[StupidUsernameUnavailable]

Based on actual meter readings

March: £61
April: £133

More than double despite only having the heating on 3 times (for one hour at a time) this month. All points switched off overnight, apart from 2 phones charging.

I've seen a lot of threads recently about how to save on energy bills etc. All very nice and well to do, but why should we HAVE to do that? Why aren't we up in arms and protesting over this? Why are we being so fucking British about it?!!

Its OK to say i lived in the 60s with ice on the inside of our windows in the mornings, but we are not in the 60's we are in 2022 for fuck sake!!! These companies are making billions in profit. Why are we sitting back and just accepting it should happen?

I have no plausible solution, just makes me so angry!!

Rant over. Apologies 😔

OP, you were on a fixed rate, so you were actually underpaying for a long time, as many were. You therefore benefited from low prices at that point and obviously weren't complaining then. This is why many energy companies went bust, they were buying in at many times the cost of what their customers were paying.

Energy companies will subsidise those that can't pay. That's an extra also included in all of our bills. The government has also added to that pot. There is a reduction in council tax bills. The government (us, the tax payer) is doing something. The energy companies are going bust, not making huge profits. The energy extractors are making big bucks, but they pay a high tax rate already, and keep our pensions going.

What more do you want when the global situation is out of our hands? What is your solution?

Mine was £15 just for electricity yesterday.

I did four loads of washing.
Boiled the kettle probably ten times. Some for drinks and four times as we were unblocking a shower drain.
Didn't use the oven.

@doggiescats

Am actually worried…tonight my bloody husband put the heating on 😢He was cold…really!! I went into every room and switched off radiators…bloody ridiculous!!

My husband tried that last night and it got turned off sharpish. We snuggled up on the sofa with dressing gowns, socks and a blanket instead. I’ve told him it’s for genuine emergencies only and only for taking the chill off, not to stay on for hours at a time.

@CatDogMonkeyPOW

What does great’s autism have anything to do with, well… anything?

Greta’s

@dipdye

It's not about usage - the price has tripled.

What is it that people don't understand?

If milk had tripled, the answer wouldn't be stop drinking milk, would it??

Yes?

It's interesting that when the cost of an essential life requirement (electricity and gas) goes up massively, everyone is furious and worried (as they should be). However, when the essential life requirement of shelter (buying or renting a home) goes up by 1000% in the space of 20 years, everyone celebrates and it is seen as a great thing .

@lonelyapple

It's interesting that when the cost of an essential life requirement (electricity and gas) goes up massively, everyone is furious and worried (as they should be). However, when the essential life requirement of shelter (buying or renting a home) goes up by 1000% in the space of 20 years, everyone celebrates and it is seen as a great thing .

Is that really so odd?

There is absolutely no financial upside whatsoever to increasing energy costs

Whereas al property owners see their property increase in value, which is great if downsizing / emigrating / releasing equity etc

@lonelyapple

It's interesting that when the cost of an essential life requirement (electricity and gas) goes up massively, everyone is furious and worried (as they should be). However, when the essential life requirement of shelter (buying or renting a home) goes up by 1000% in the space of 20 years, everyone celebrates and it is seen as a great thing .

And “everyone celebrates”

Do you read the news??

[quote Whenyougonnalearn]@CatDogMonkeyPOW

What does great’s autism have anything to do with, well… anything? [/quote]
Spectacularly missing the point there.

She has a tendency to be blunt and direct instead of behaving as society thinks a teenage girl should behave which has opened her up to be more likely to face the kind of abuse the person I quoted gave out. Her autism has widely been cited as one of the reasons she gets abuse because she defies expectations of social norms for a teenage girl.

In France, the increase to the fuel cap was 4%. In the UK, the increase was 54%

Although I agree the government should be doing more, its not quite the same in France as they very sensibly invested in nuclear energy which is a fantastic option.

The government created a pretend free market (when it's actually nothing of the sort) and made us all into busy little serfs, triumphantly chasing the "cheapest deal" as if we were fucking Alan Sugar. They did this so their mates could own and run these fake competition energy companies. Now the wheels have come off, we have to pay for it all in massively higher standing charges (one reason cutting back doesn't help much).

Another lesson in why privatising everything in sight only benefits the already wealthy.

But the poster to which you were responding was not even remotely referring to this. Purely her campaign

@StupidUsernameUnavailable

So say roughly 28m households in the UK. Come Oct, even if 2m of those can't afford the hike (I will be one) what are they actually going to do? Cut us off?

No they don't, they don't seem to do this any longer. I'm applying for the trust fund to have half the balance wiped now my debt is approaching 5K. You need a big debt to do it.

@Whenyougonnalearn well I think a and B rated homes might increase in value due to the high energy bills. Flats are also warmer on the top floor as heat rises. My top floor flat is so warm conpared to my MIL's Victorian terrace that she is unused to how warm it is even without the heating.

In the past few years, people have prioritized space over location but more space= increased heating bills esp in rural locations where the charges tend to be higher. I am not saying people can necessarily not afford the bills but I think people will factor the cost of heating a house much more rather than just the cost of the mortgage. Previously I don't think most people moving from a 2 bed flat to a 5 bed house in the sticks really considered cost of heating. They considered cost of commuter rail fares far more. Maybe that might mean they move to smaller more energy efficient homes which are closer to family and work. Generally these homes have not risen as much in price compared to large period properties which are usually favoured.

What annoys me is the energy companies are taking the piss with the standing charges now. You can turn everything off and use next to no energy but still have silly bills. So we are basically paying just to have access to bloody electricity even if we don't use it. Fair enough charge more for what is used but don't charge us more for not using any. They are CF, shouldn't be allowed.

CJay81
The standing charge is levied by Ofgem not the energy companies, it’s gone up to help pay for all the energy companies that went bust.

I come off a fixed rate at the end of May. The prices had been set in the halcyon days of May 2020 so I've obviously been paying considerably under the SVR.

I've already worked out that under the SVR the price per KWh for gas will go up 150% & the price per kWh for electricity will go up 60%.

The fixed rates being quoted by EDF are hilarious so I'll be going onto SVR & see how it goes.

@DeyHuggee

In France, the increase to the fuel cap was 4%. In the UK, the increase was 54%

Although I agree the government should be doing more, its not quite the same in France as they very sensibly invested in nuclear energy which is a fantastic option.

I thought that the French government were picking up the bill currently, rather than the costs just being cheaper? Presumably that’s not sustainable?

Surely the price rises couldn’t have come as a shock to anyone, it was talked about for months beforehand, there will be another in October ( possibly 25% ),
I’m afraid it’s time to tighten are belts, cancel subscription, Sky, Netflix, BT sport, Amazon prime, etc, get a cheaper Phone contract, cheaper Broadband etc, only one Holiday a year ( if that ) restrict eating out, takeaways, It’s time to prioritise the basics, Mortgage, rent, council tax, utility bills, food, look after yourself, don’t rely on the government

Unphased, I think you will find that many already do not have these 'extras', and are struggling with the new energy costs despite already cutting their very modest cloths as narrowly as they can.
You are lucky if you think otherwise.

I honestly struggle to think of one single previously publicly owned utility or service, including local authority schools, where the outcome for the public has been a better value, more affordable, more accessible, more reliable provision.

EveSix
Can they look in the mirror and say they’ve cut out all luxuries, smoking, latest phones, subscriptions, nail bars, coffee bars, latest clothing etc

@EveSix

I honestly struggle to think of one single previously publicly owned utility or service, including local authority schools, where the outcome for the public has been a better value, more affordable, more accessible, more reliable provision.

Ah yes - but none of those were the real objectives. The real point was to sell us serfs the things we already owned, plenty of jobs/cash for Tory supporters and the ability for the government to say "nothing to do with us" when things go wrong. Oh - and paradoxically for the Thatcherites, for an army of government "regulators" without the power or will to regulate anything.

Unphased, perhaps you really don't know people who have very little?
I see families through work all the time who have none of what you are listing. My DC have friends whose parents live very, very modestly.
You are placing a totally unreasonable expectation of asceticism on people whose lives are already blighted by austerity. These energy price rises are effecting people disproportionately.
But I suspect you know all this.