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

Nobody is sitting around in shorts an t-shirt at 20 degrees. That isn't hot, it's normal room temperature. My thermostat is set at 21 degrees in winter and that's with a jumper on and a layer underneath

21 is a bloomin sauna.

Normal room temperature is subjective. We have our set to 16 degrees in the winter and are quite comfortable to just wear a T shirt when it reaches that. This winter we might drop it down to 14 and wear long sleeved T shirts instead.

At twenty degrees I wear a cardigan and have a fleece over my legs. I'd bloody freeze in a t shirt.

It really isn't, 21 barely takes the chill off the air in my flat!

When I was on a fixed rate, my DD for gas and electricity was £75 per month (am single, live in 3-bed cottage). That came to an and November last year and DD was increased to £115. Then, in April this year, was increased to £185.

There is only so much I can do to reduce my usage. House needs lights, food needs to be cooked - whether there’s one person or more!

Have just had an email offer from my provider to fix at £235 for 2 years (with a £150 credit).

Im normally very practical, but I feel frozen with indecision! Part of me wants to fix, so that in my head I can relax and not worry if things get worse. Another part of me is worrying that I’m going to be fixing at 3x my old rate, for 2 years, and that things could go down and I’m caught paying this rate.

On top of that, I need to decide what is best to advise my elderly mum to do - and I feel a huge responsibility re this.

It's so difficult @Furries. We're on a fixed rate until October 2023 paying £108 a month (it was £131 but I reduced it) and I know we'll get a shock when that comes to an end. What are the early exit fees if you were to change tariffs within the 2 years? A few years ago we paid £100 fees to get out of a fixed tariff with British Gas

Good point, thank you, need to look at exit fees. Honestly, I feel my brain has turned to mush re this and it’s not like me. I really need to get things straight for me. But also to log-on to mum’s account to try to advise her of the best thing to do.

This is my quote, it's fucking outrageous. I have a disabled child that needs energy for medical uses, we are very careful with our usage. It is not up to me to ration, it is up to the government to sort this terrifying situation out!!

That's absolutely ridiculous

I remember Johnson being asked about tariffs for people who need power for medical needs .

Has anything been done about that? It looks like that does not get taken into account which must be awful for you.

I seem to remember they were looking at it but means tested..So probably people on benefits, I should imagine.

Was this situation precipitated entirely by the Russian invasion? Or would gas prices have risen in this period anyway? Trying to understand, as the UK doesn't get most of its gas from Russia.

Gas prices were rising before Russia. That's just made it worse.

It's a global market for gas. Other countries can get gas so there is a lot of demand for it so the price goes up.

I see, so the remaining supply of gas is going to whoever will pay the most.
This seems to be extremely dangerous and severe... And the rises seem so steep that suggestions like turning off lights and taking short showers fall rather flat...

Well that isn't normal and I hope that you don't have kids.

The WHO strongly recommend that the minimum safe indoor temperature is 18 degrees. It should be higher for elderly and children.

Or maybe you've go used to temperatures that are too cold? Human beings are designed for hot climates. That why we walk upright and no longer have fur.

WHO recommend that the minimum safe indoor temperature is 18 degrees so I don't see how 20 can be considered hot

I agree. DS had a maths question for homework, would you be wearing a t-shirt or jumper at 20 degrees. Answer was t-shirt.

If that's a maths question then the teacher is a fucking idiot. I would be complaining to the school.

Check what the cost of coming out of the deal early is. I'm on a fixed rate deal and there is no charge if I want to end the deal early and go on svr, so it was a no brainer.

So true
I remember telling a member of staff at a Co-op that the beer fridge door was open. I can't remember what the issue was but he couldn't care less. He might as well have said "fuck it, who cares?" in fact I think he did

I still wear jumpers at 20 degrees. Wtf

It depends on the energy company, I'm not sure I trust them one bit. All the panic to fix massive deals or pay huge overpayments to direct debits. The price rise is real, it's huge and it's damaging..but really understand the size isn't really possible yet I don't think. We're in credit and I ended up cancelling our direct debit as it was going up to £250 a month, up and up each month but never paying for anything. I really think you can either afford to adapt or pay a big bill as it comes or you can't, in which cast you probably can't afford to overpay in the summer anyway. Would be good to have some honesty but there's none. At least those on low incomes should be able to fix a deal at a reasonable price, not fix for 3x what they're currently using

@Furries
If you're talking about EDF (who have offer code 150EXCLUSIVE with one of their 2 fixed rates) then I have just changed from their SV tariff which is MUCH cheaper but ends on Sept 30th. I didn't want to wait as once their numbers are filled they withdraw the tariff (same as all providers do) and anyway, on 1st August two new tariffs will replace the present tariffs and they'll be much higher. Nothing will be better tomorrow than it is today and it's very very unlikely that prices will come down next year or even 2024.
We can hope but I'd rather have certainty.

Doubt many people will be able to keep their houses at 18 this winter. Kids need feeding and clothing too.

No-one has to agree to a DD which the provider suggests. As long as you've never owed a debt to them and pay on time there should be no problem in you working out your usage and cost and coming to an agreement. None of the suppliers can reckon what the cap will be so they're just playing with numbers. Estimates are often wildly inaccurate. All you need to do is see what your last 12 months usage is, all the months from September 2021 to this September. Then calculate the bill with the 'new/proposed' tariff details kWhs and standing charges. Divide the total by 12 to see what a monthly DD would be and round up to the next zero figure (if it's £65pm tell them you'll pay £70, £142 pay £150 etc)
That way you are in control and you can fix before the crunch. Don't leave it until August as tariffs change every month and they will be higher.

It was a photocopied homework worksheet 10 years ago (I'm autistic, I remember things). I thought it was pretty clear cut except for some groups of vulnerable people, I see now that the question does exclude those people!

Another thing about these new DDs is that they forget customer behaviour and assume you will be using the same amount of energy next year as you did the year before.

Yet customers will be changing their behaviour.

I do PAYG by DD. I save the money in summer for the winter biills and know what's coming in winter.

But I do use my Smart meter and a spreadsheet.