Energy Price Cap - Who is it really benefitting?

[Fallingthroughclouds]

I'm totally prepared to stand corrected on this, and welcome the discussion, but really isn't the energy price cap only helping the already well off? My energy costs around £960 a year, so I imagine houses using fuel to the cost of nearly £2000 must be pretty spacious. Also if you have a house with a pool, hot tub, stables, normally to the song of £4000 a year aren't you laughing all the way to the bank....twice. I bet their heating is one 24/7, whilst the rest of the country shivers under blankets.

I just think it's ludicrous for the government to be supporting the running costs of places such as Beckingham Palace. The thought of handing out £400 to the Beckhams to spend on their topup card was also ridiculous.

I just don't feel that modest households are benefitting. Their prices have still increased where the well off and the mega rich are the ones profiteering. More absolute what the fuckery?

There isn't a maximum spend so if larger houses use more energy then they pay more. It is the price per kwh and standing charge that are fixed not the amount paid in total.

I think you are misunderstanding how the price cap works tbh

This. It doesn’t work how you think it does at all. Use more, your bill will go up. It’s just the rate that you pay per kWh that is capped.

Ah well that was a simple answer to a simpletons question 🤣

I really don't think this makes it clear though. They are talking about an annual price cap.

?

The first page mentions each unit of energy and the second page mentions typical domestic consumption which is based on certain assumptions about number of people in the family and size of house.

This is the info you really need

Well not me since EDF have just tried to increase my DD by £280 a month from l 🙄despite only being £60 in arrears.

They’re being very difficult about reducing it too despite me explaining a number of times we don’t use central heating and we live in a 3 bedroom semi with 2 people - hardly going to be using twice the average are we!

They haven't spelt out the size of the house though, or the number of people. I can't find that anywhere. I am guessing it means, do they run a business from it, is it a lighthouse etc.

Also this:

Ofgem estimates the typical household in Britain uses 2,900 kWh of electricity and 12,000 kWh of gas in a year

These are the values used when they give a monetary value for usage. They are for a medium usage household with 2-3 bedrooms housing 2-3 people

It pisses me off - £700 in credit, DD for £120 and have solar panels so usage is negligible for 6 months of the year.

Only December last year, when we hosted, did it go above £250. But I have to have an argument with Eon every few months when they tell me they’ve calculated my DD needs to be £241.

I’d love to see your calculations then you clowns.

Our energy consumption costs us slightly more than the price cap, so about £2300 now, we have a three bed detached house and are two retired people who keep our house between 18c and 21c from 7am until 10pm in the winter when we are in.

Not only have the news media go the 'annual cap' around their necks so have our political masters....

As above, it's the unit cost etc that's capped not what you actually pay in a year.

I have checked my bills and my annual usage is 5608kwh for electricity and 12077kwh for gas so we are high users for electricity and medium for gas.

As we use more we pay more as its just the price per kwh and standing charge that has a cap on it. E.g it is estimated that we will pay £1882 for electricity and £1001 for gas next year.

I don't understand the confusion about this.

Any time it's talked about, its always in terms of unit rates and annual charge for typical usage which is stated on the ofgem website.

If they implemented a price cap for petrol, no-one would think that you would pay exactly the same no matter how far you drove or your car's MPG and this is exactly the same.

As for the universality of the cost of living grants, it's cheaper to just give it to everyone than it is to means test. It's the same for the annual winter fuel allowances, which are given to everyone over a certain age, whether they need it or not.

Anyone who receives it and feels they don't need it always has the option of donating to charity such as National Energy Action.

How is electricity so expensive still in the UK?

It's above average in Europe but not the highest, probably as would be expected as wages are higher than many other European countries eg Spain, Portugal and Eastern Europe.

Plus also its run by privatised businesses that need to make a profit for shareholders rather than it being a national resource run for the benefit of the population.

https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Electricity_price_statistics#Electricity_prices_for_household_consumers

I was just thinking of the price per unit, forgot about the other costs like transfer costs, as the price per unit in Finland is really cheap but I guess the transfer costs are what push it up. Though even with 10c per kwh (one of the more expensive deals, spot price is maybe a couple of cents most of the time) plus the transfer costs which average 10c per kwh its still more than a third cheaper than the UK

I can relate to this

Octopus want to increase my monthly debit even though we are £260 in credit!!

Cheeky bastards. I would just like to pay what is due each month, rather than paying them extra months in advance.

Octopus used to be a good flexible service - not so much now.

lots of high users have no choice anyway. We have 2 children with complex medical needs who require a warm house to stay well and a host of medical equipment running 24 /7. We paid 600 to 700 a month last winter and I can assure you that I am not sitting in a mansion counting my wealth.
We have to suck it up and find the many thousands required regardless .

@littleblackcat27 you can pay for what you use each month with Octopus so just contact them. You will pay a lot less in summer and a lot more in winter though

Well OP you will be happy to know that I am paying almost £5k in gas and electricity combined for my “mansion”. Except that it’s not a mansion, it’s a five bed detached house. No swimming pool, hot tub or stables….

It’s important to understand how energy prices work, it’s based on units consumed x price per unit. The energy price guarantee capped the price per unit. I find it hard to believe that people don’t understand this, two years in to an energy crisis.

The price of energy is now below the EPG capped price, so it isn’t in place anymore, it ended at the end of June, although if prices shoot up (which they might, as markets are really tight right now) I guess it could make a brief come back.

Annoying when you renew or change supplier and they don't quote the unit price

This is normal. You use more energy in winter (lights + heating) so to keep the monthly amount the same, you overpay in summer and underpay in winter. If you're in arrears at the end of September then you will have been (i) underpaying, relative to the amount you expect to use or (ii) using more than was estimated.

Bit late since this was a year ago!
I was in arrears, yes, but not to the point where they needed to triple my bill. Eventually I fought them down to increase my bill by £40 a month instead and surprise surprise, this time a year later, I’m significantly in credit.

This year they wanted to reduce it 🤦🏻‍♀️ I had to say no let’s leave it the same or I’ll be in arrears in spring…they can’t make their mind up.