Energy companies and direct debits

Chris B said:
The price cap is still in place so it’ll be next winter that a lot of people will struggle to heat their homes because of the current high prices. This is because the next year’s price cap will be set based on the current wholesale prices.

Something ignored in the media is that the additional costs of taking on the customers of failed suppliers will also be added to bills, possibly next year or the year after.

It’s too often overlooked how vital the energy system is to keeping people alive. You’re right of course, people will die due to cold this winter as they do every winter, and the government hasn’t looked at the issue of security of supply or price of gas in particular. Allowing the Rough gas storage facility to close was a particularly stupid decision, but not the only one.

Sadly we also have some very highly motivated people who make it difficult to replace imported fuels with domestically produced ones. The fuss over fracking is one example, the coal mine in Cumbria another. These are the same sort of people who are quite happy to see someone die in an ambulance so they can make an irrelevant point about insulation.
Click to expand...
I think when I first heard there’s going to be a price increase I sort of shrugged it off as one of those things, We become ambivalent as it wasn’t an unusual story.

However as you say this is far more serious than first thought and your opinion that we will have to pay the costs of failed companies is going to have enough impact on its own. Throw in the huge increase in the price of energy and people will die.

I heard a analyst on the radio yesterday saying the price of a household bill for energy that’s currently £1800 pa will probably be about £3k next year, £100 per month, that’s the price of running a small car, frightening.

Would Nationalising the business or getting all the companies to join forces help? They would save on duplicate jobs at all the companies and be able to purchase gas to go direct to the customers rather than it being resold through the National Grid with all the inherent expenses that involves.
 
hammocity said:
I heard a analyst on the radio yesterday saying the price of a household bill for energy that’s currently £1800 pa will probably be about £3k next year, £100 per month, that’s the price of running a small car, frightening.

Would Nationalising the business or getting all the companies to join forces help? They would save on duplicate jobs at all the companies and be able to purchase gas to go direct to the customers rather than it being resold through the National Grid with all the inherent expenses that involves.
Click to expand...
Those bills figures sound like they’re for a very big house with a heated outdoor pool! Not impossible but higher than most pay, especially if they shop around.

My view is that nationalising wouldn’t particularly help. It seems from a customer point of view that there are multiple energy companies doing the same thing but these are just ‘suppliers’.

Suppliers don’t generate, transmit or distribute power. They don’t fix your supply if you have a power cut. They don’t operate the system as a whole and ensure demand and supply match. All the key roles are done by businesses that are either monopolies like National Grid, or on the generation side where the market system has been very good at bringing new green supply to the system. Suppliers are largely just billing and call centre businesses with a level of staff that scales to serve their customer base, they also act as a hub selecting the cheapest options for consumers on the market so they add some value that way.

There’s probably an argument for a single nationalised supplier but that would only be a small part of the overall system. There wouldn’t particularly need to be any need to nationalise the existing onesthough.

The one thing the current system enables government to do is push prices down through price controls (not just the price cap, but price controls on the monopoly businesses), which they’ve historically found difficult to do with nationalised businesses.

However it works we’re at the mercy of global markets because we’ve stopped producing enough gas ourselves. This is despite having options like fracking, or more funding for North Sea exploration. Obviously the need to get carbon out the system has driven these decisions but I wonder if the timing was right. Looking at the current prices it seems it wasn’t.
 
ell said:
Easy to say but my accounts now wrongly in the minus and I haven’t even been billed for electric yet. 300m3 is a lot to overcharge me by. Just want the dispute open as the ombudsman won’t get involved till after 8 weeks
Click to expand...
I do get your frustration but you've got the evidence so now you just have to be patient. Give Shell a chance to get your account sorted. The ombudsman won't be interested unless it's not resolved 6 months down the line.
 
ell said:
No, my bill shows exactly what they think I've used and I've got all my (actual) readings on my phone as I take photos for this exact reason. In 8 weeks of August and September (2 weeks of which I was abroad) they think I've used something like 330m3 of Gas. Thankfully because I've got the photos, I can prove I submitted my opening reading that was 300m3 less than the "estimate" they used 9 days later. I just hope when Shell do open my account they can dispute it on my behalf
Click to expand...
Okay, just me that paid additional when it was actually showing a credit then :) I should pay more attention!
 
  • Like
Reactions: ell
Have difficulty reading my electric meter due to its position so having a smart meter put in so they will get both readings monthly , wont be watching it go around and worrying , iwill use what ido already , it just me in three rooms and the hallway
 
kaz7 said:
Have difficulty reading my electric meter due to its position so having a smart meter put in so they will get both readings monthly , wont be watching it go around and worrying , iwill use what ido already , it just me in three rooms and the hallway
Click to expand...
Must resist, must resist...


;)
 
hammocity said:
I think when I first heard there’s going to be a price increase I sort of shrugged it off as one of those things, We become ambivalent as it wasn’t an unusual story.

However as you say this is far more serious than first thought and your opinion that we will have to pay the costs of failed companies is going to have enough impact on its own. Throw in the huge increase in the price of energy and people will die.

I heard a analyst on the radio yesterday saying the price of a household bill for energy that’s currently £1800 pa will probably be about £3k next year, £100 per month, that’s the price of running a small car, frightening.

Would Nationalising the business or getting all the companies to join forces help? They would save on duplicate jobs at all the companies and be able to purchase gas to go direct to the customers rather than it being resold through the National Grid with all the inherent expenses that involves.
Click to expand...
It is not an opinion.
Failed company admin costs will be passed on to the consumer.
And £3K a year is £250 a month…
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Unread Posts

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top
✖
  AdBlock Detected
Bluemoon relies on advertising to pay our hosting fees. Please support the site by disabling your ad blocking software to help keep the forum sustainable. Thanks.