Energy bill price cap predicted to go to £3850 - 3 x what it was a year ago

[cakeorwine]

There is an AIBU here - but really it's posting for traffic

Russia is having 'maintainance issues' so has reduced the gas flow to Europe to a low level.

Gas prices have soared again.

Price cap prediction - £3850 - about 3 x what it was a year ago.

This is going to affect all of us

www.theguardian.com/money/2022/jul/27/uk-energy-bills-forecast-to-hit-3850-pounds-russia-cuts-gas-supply-further-europe-pipeline

However at one time everyone was in that category. I am not saying that it was a great time but I grew up in a house with no heating other than a coal fire which heated water. We also had an immersion heater for water which would be put on for a bath.I think people have become too used to having a hot or warm house all the time. Last winter we got an electric heated overblanket

Please look up Don't Pay - it's a plan for millions of us to not pay our bills from the 1st October. We'll cripple the admin system (a la Poll Tax Riots).

I know this has been harped on about in other threads, but we’ve coped without central heating before, and can do again, without multiple deaths from freezing. It’s difficult because it’s alien to most of us to cope without our central heating, but that’s what we have to do if we can’t afford to heat our homes. We’ve had new windows and doors and loft insulation fitted this year. We will not use the heating, but will layer up and use throws during the day. Large tog duvets at night. I think the most vulnerable amongst us re the cold are the elderly,and I think government help should focus on them. The rest of us will have to cope without the luxury of central heating this winter if we can’t afford it.

And how is this going to help? Wont it just push up the bills even further for those of us that do pay?

As Lewis said this morning, by the time Parliament sits again and there is a new PM (assuming it goes to a vote) it will be too late.

Centrica made over £1 billion half year profits, Shell made a whopping $11.5 in just ONE quarter.
Centrica's especially was in part due to rising consumer energy prices...

The French have privatised EDF as France is fairly self sufficient in electricity... hence limiting price rise to 4%.
We are self sufficient in Gas, so perhaps we need to look at nationalising NS gas production?

We are, effectively, at war with Russia, an economic one, if not militarily and all options have to be considered.

We should all refuse to pay it, people managed before gas was introduced, its not like oxygen, we are enabling them to do what the hell they like by going along with it.
l am not paying it, cut me off, l will be ok.

This sounds like it will make it worse for everyone I agree

What will happen with schools and hospitals and public buildings too? It won't just be people freezing indoors ( which is bad enough ) but maybe they will have to ration it for these places too ?
Not sure how though, maybe a shorter week for schools during the winter time?
My son and many of my family work from home so he'll find it tough trying to work and stay warm too , just working to pay for fuel and not much else.

We’ve had new windows and doors and loft insulation fitted this year. We will not use the heating, but will layer up and use throws during the day.

Not everyone can afford this though....

The Govt could do plenty before we have to condemn people to freezing temperatures and the thing you don't address - Damp, which kill many people off.

Energy companies are making billions out of this crisis and if the French can nationalise EDF, then we could nationalise north sea Gas, stop it being sold on world markets and sell it to UK consumers for cost.

@Zeus44 you do realise the masses on benefits out there are already working. Then there are the benefits for those who really can't work due to disability. The minority that don't work and probably never will or never have that the press and mainstream media like to portray as the ones where all are tax support will be difficult to entice into work due to a long standing vicious circles of families being on benefits - which is another thread I'm sure and another problem to solve.

It would be great if we could support training and education for people who want it in low paid jobs supported by benefits to improve their situations and lives. Or companies could you know pay a proper living wage to their employees instead of government propping it up and allowing companies to get away with minimum wage and zero hour contracts and allowing directors and chief exec to take massive salaries and bonuses which give them more money then they will ever really need.

I'd get on a 2 year fix now if you can as it's not going to get cheaper anytime in the next couple of years. As for not paying, that is utter foolishness. You will still be liable to pay no matter how long you put it off. You could, however, go through your providers process and get help that way BUT it means you have to show all your outgoings and incomings with paperwork, have been to CAB and shown that you've done everything possible to reduce unnecessary use and expenditure in order for you energy provider to give you access to their reserve funds to pay for your energy.
This process is explained on your providers website under 'Help paying your bills' or similar.
Your local authority (LA) can also help but again, you have to disclose your finances with proof, which is a reasonable ask.
Refusing to pay is a very bad option.

@LoisLane66 Not paying killed off the Poll Tax (arguably Thatcher too) and has been used around the world to get change.

Again, Energy companies are making billions.

If the Govt weren't navel gazing and focusing on their pathetic concerns and doing something about this crisis, then yes i'd agree with you but they are not.

I actually prefer cold weather. Can't stand heat. Maybe it's to do with the season in which you were born. Mine's early January 🌨️❄️😁

Germany is the EU and they're looking at rationing energy. I agree those direct debits aren't sustainable. However, people are going to have to take some measures and turn the temps down in the house. You cannot have 21c from September to March from 6 am till 10 pm.

We've just ordered 2 tonnes of logs. That should last us till Nov-April.
It might even be a mild winter. We don't know yet.

Added to which the National Grid has said that electricity supply will be very tight this winter. The tightest time will be the first half of December. They think they'll manage, but it believes it will be able to meet demand - just.

www.reuters.com/world/uk/britains-national-grid-warns-tight-electricity-supply-this-winter-2022-07-27/

Otherwise we'll be in the situation we were in earlier this month when we had to buy electricity from Belgium at 5000% more than we normally pay - The Brussels Times report that it cost over £9,700 per megawatt hour.

www.brusselstimes.com/business/261862/belgium-saves-london-from-blackout

All at the time when people (who can afford it) have swapped their cars to electric...

I don't understand why it's not law to build all new homes with solar panels (and 'pointing' in the right direction - not just how many houses can be squeezed onto a site) and grey water tanks to take the waste water for use in the garden, loo etc., for the environment.

You cannot have 21c from September to March from 6 am till 10 pm.

in reality how many people actually do this?

Absolutely. We did it because we could literally feel the cold coming through the cracks in our knackered doors last winter. Had to put it on the mortgage too so increased mortgage payment for us, but we also didn’t have double glazing 50 years ago, so hopefully most of us that do have it, it will help make the cold a little bit more bearable than it would have been in the days of no heating.

Mines about that now so god knows what it is going to be. I’ve got £1000 in credit so I’m hoping that helps a bit 😞

It's ok, Prime Minister Truss will sort it all out.

But some people walk around in the middle of winter in a t-shirt and shorts or have the oven on for two hours for one baked potato

I don't think anyone is worried about these people.

No because they will mark as a missed payment. Utilities appear on some crfs. That will stop you remortgaging competitively.

That sounds more realistic to me than £10k a year, it’s not much lower than mine and I’m on the price cap, not a fix. Electricity was a bit higher this month because we’ve had the fan going constantly but this month’s bill was £34 electricity and £10 gas. It’s not like we’re just sitting here in the dark either, I work from home between 3 and 5 days a week.

I'm not sure what your point is - my point is that there are plenty of people who are incredibly wasteful of energy. No, I'm not worried about them.

I think it's panic stations for the masses. I have single glazed windows in old original wooden frames. No loft insulation. It's an old building but when anyone comes her for the first time, such as tradesmen, they always remark on the heat yet 9/10 I have no heat on and in the depths of a really cold winter, possibly the thermostat will be set to 19 at most. I live in a double height flat of 5 rooms over a very small business and that means heat rises , although the opening times are short and no heat after they close at 5.
My bills are low, really low, because I am not used to cranking up the heat at every drop of rain or breezy day. It's good to have some air flow and silly to have every nook and cranny blocked so no fresh air can circulate. Thus, when you go outside (in winter weather) the contrast in temperature is greater and you are more likely to suffer illness and colds.