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

I do not understand why the standing charges have increased. You could switch everything off - even turn the gas off. You will still have a hefty bill at the end of the month. Logic (for me) is that the cost of purchasing increased - not delivery - the standing charge should be capped or fixed - I think is an underhand tactic by utilities firms to keep profits.

This is a crisis and the government needs to govern - not be going on summer holidays!

A lot of people I know are signing up to dontpay.uk/

I don't know. What do people think?

Sorry for the naivety but what would be the more efficient ways to heat or store food, if not using hob/oven or fridge freezer?
I've seen batch cooking recommended as a way to economise (although assumes you can afford all the ingredients in one go, and potentially a lingerie cooking time) but that requires a freezer, and often frozen food is cheaper or better value than fresh...?

I grew up with no heating as my DF left us.
The immersion heater went on once a week for a bath, I went in first, then mum.
Hot water bottles in bed, and we shared her double bed.
Lots of layers of clothes, and good warming food.
Often it was ‘warmer out than in’ so we’d go out for walks. I now think our frequent trips out to the library and town were my DM’s way of keeping us warm too.

so if Martin Lewis told everyone not to fix earlier in the year - does that mean he’s totally messed up?

So many people will be worse off because of that advice!!

(unless I’ve missed something, which is possible!)

Depending on where they live, last winter was a fairly mild winter. I don't remember much ice or snow. It could be a lot different if there is more extreme weather, and will depend on the the type of housing someone lives in, and their age/health.

The argument is that there are certain fixed costs of supply whether you use a little or a lot. Plus the suppliers have faced extra costs in taking on customers from suppliers who have gone bust, installing smart meters and other green levies etc.

But the standing charge isn't really 'a hefty bill', it's a little over £20 a month for both gas and electricity, so a small percentage of the bill for most people. It's the increase in unit cost, especially for gas, that's the problem. This has gone up six/seven or eightfold for many people.

The standing charge is only really an issue if you're a low user through necessity (rather than due to living in a very small, well insulated property and/or being out of the house a lot) so they could help with that by extra grants for people on lower incomes, which they are already doing to a degree with extra winter fuel payments for pensioners and the extra £650 for those on means tested benefits, which will go some way to helping people but, given further increases in costs since these were announced, are no longer enough and need adding to.

I agree most can survive without. It's the elderly, the sick and the vulnerable that I am the most worried about.

When my relatives were going through chemo they found the cold very painful. Opening the fridge was agony for them and their house was roasting to help keep them free from pain.

It's so much harder to keep warm when you can't move about too.

Disused fireplaces - we have a chimney sweep booked and are beginning to hoard cheap fire wood from shops that have it on offer because it’s Summer.

I didn't say it would be easy! 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.

Not this old chestnut again.

The majority (well over half) have never fixed, so have obviously never taken heed of his advice anyway.

Every time he's said 'don't fix' it's not just been 'don't fix' but more like 'probably don't fix because on current prices (did anyone really think this would be where we are now 9-12 months ago?) fixing costs significantly more than staying on the price cap which is fixed for 6 months anyway, but you may wish to consider fixing if you value certainty over getting the absolute cheapest price, but be aware that you will pay more for the next six months where your use will be higher because it's winter so may not end up any better off anyway.

A minority of people might have 'won' by taking on 2 year fixes late last year, but anyone who fixed for a year has probably ended up more or less even because they will have paid quite a bit more last winter that may or may not have been balanced out by paying slightly less between April and October this year.

I haven't seen much evidence of thought, just lots of bragging about how the UK was the first and toughest on the sanctions by Johnson, Truss and co. That's very sweet of you to call me a foreign policy expert but not something I claim to be, not even a tiny bit. I do read and listen to the opinions of people who are experts though. There would have been and are different ways to have dealt with the situation. If you would like to PM me, I'm more than happy to forward a few links.

This doesn’t sound great - surely you can be disconnected, chased up by whatever they usually do if you don’t pay?

There are some relatively simple ways to reduce usage - which can have an impact.

It worries me when people say that they will turn the lights out. Yes, turn them off in a room you aren't using, but sitting in darkness - the percentage that a light in a room contributes to your usage is minimal.

Things that heat water and devices that are used for a long time and use a lot of power are the things that take up a high proportion of usage.

This is the kind of thing the Government could be talking about. There are loads of other things but this is a national crisis.

I think they need to do more targeted support . Perhaps everyone on less than £25k gets much more assistance eg raise thresholds for tax / NI.

I think it'll be survival of the fittest like never before .

There are plans to build more but the area where it’s going to be doesn’t want it, as it’ll take years of construction and all that comes with it

This is what happens, when a country which only produces a small amount of the global CO2, listen to the greens. Close the nuclear power stations, dont allow fracking, or use the oil we have under our oceans. I have an article written August, 2013, saying energy bils would treble in 10 years, I kept it, because it was regarding solar panels. It is nothing new, it WAS predicted!

I keep hearing them talk of the vulnerable on the news but that isn't the whole story , the vulnerable are now more and more of normal working people, the group called vulnerable is expanding to now include those who would never have been in that category .

And you don't think Russia has much to do with it?

We need to action on CO2.
We also need reliable energy and to be self sufficient

We can't ignore the issues around climate change which are having massive ramifications globally

We also need to ensure we have reliable energy

Yes governments knew it would get tough but the alternative was / is worse

Public generally supported sanctions but it was known cost of living would be affected due to it

I don't hear anything from the Government re energy rationing or trying to get prepared.

This Government has a poor record of planning ahead.

Who are the people who are wealthy but don’t pay much tax?

Is this a serious question?! Have you never heard of tax avoidance? Of people who we know who pay huge amounts of money to accountants to engineer ways to minimise their tax liabilities? Of companies like Amazon who don't pay the right levels of tax?

Our current system permits people who earning in excess of £10m to quite legitimately pay less tax than those earning £15k. And what does the government do? Increase NI payments!

Depends if you value your credit rating and want a mortgage and stuff like that, if you are retired, paid off your mortgage, etc. then probably wouldn't matter

Well the French government have implemented heavy subsidies to reduce their increase to 4% but it will be a cold day in hell (pun intended) before our government shows similar compassion and accommodation for its more vulnerable citizens.

tbf the French wouldn't tolerate it, we are far more passive.

20 years ago I worked in IT and earned close to £40K including bonus.

wages have hardly changed in the last 20 yrs