Energy Prices

[Dunning1874]

21 hours ago, Gaz said:

I think my favourite thing about this whole thing has been comfortable middle-class Tories who have turned a blind eye to the suffering of poorer folk over the past twelve years because it hasn't affected them now becoming so, so concerned about how poorer folk are going to struggle paying their bills.

Nothing at all to to with these comfortable middle-class Tories also going to be struggling to pay their bills, nosiree

"How could a government leave people to become impoverished and do nothing to help?" say the same people who get misty eyed thinking back to the London 2012 opening ceremony as some sort of highwater mark of British society and how everything was better then, as if we didn't have a government deliberately impoverishing millions of people then.

[scottsdad]

46 minutes ago, 19QOS19 said:

That's Scottish Power with a text about hie they are concerned for customers and are recommending I get booked in for a Smart Meter. Good on them. Hopefully a Smart Meter will help me keep on top of my usage during these upcoming tough winter months.

Why have you chosen to be a customer of the worst company on the planet?

I wouldn't trust them with a smart meter, to be honest. 

[19QOS19]

Why have you chosen to be a customer of the worst company on the planet?
I wouldn't trust them with a smart meter, to be honest. 

Because the fucking dickhead who signed me up told me they would take away my pre-payment meter. No one else would touch it so that was enough for me to go back to them. It later turned out the wee w****r was talking out his arse. But my old company were quoting more than SP so to leave within the 14 days would have been cutting my nose to spite my face. I'm well aware of how shit a company they are but I was that desperate for the meter to go I jumped in.

They are getting sent monthly meter readings and I'm paying double what they are asking just now so when this all dies down and I jump ship they won't be hitting me with any surprise final bills.

Genuinely fizzing having typing that out thinking about it again [emoji38]

[Clown Job]

14 hours ago, Bert Raccoon said:

If you bang a pot hard enough you can create enough kinetic energy to power a house for two weeks 

  Reveal hidden contents

Standard Grade Physics - 3. 1997

 

 

5 hours ago, throbber said:

I was going to post something similar about introducing human sized community “hamster wheels” where the kinetic energy that comes from their rotation can contribute towards local energy consumption. Something that parents can force their kids on to and overweight adults can use to get in shape whilst also giving back to their communities.

 

[HEY_SIDNEY]

19 hours ago, Gordon EF said:

I'm pretty sure this is far more common than most folk realise. The last property I was in, the meter just didn't work. I switched from Scottish Power to Bulb. I told both companies that the meter wasn't working. Both said they'd just charge estimates then. I told them they could shove their estimates up their arse and that I wouldn't pay a penny of usage but they were welcome to come and replace the old meter if they wanted to. Both backed down and said I could just pay the standing charge. Neither came out to fix or replace the meter. So I was blasting out heat all winter and didn't pay a penny for it.

I've heard of multiple people in a similar situation.

The big problem is that the suppliers aren't really incentivised to fix that situation. If a meter doesn't record usage then the supplier doesn't pay for it and neither does the customer. It's just basically 'invisible' to the system. Doubly now that suppliers are probably losing money on every kWh that's used. They're prefectly happy to just let this go.

What a system.

Interesting.

Who pays for it then? 

Love to know the two suppliers in question who are happy to let this go.

[Gnash]

2 hours ago, 19QOS19 said:

They are getting sent monthly meter readings and I'm paying double what they are asking just now so when this all dies down and I jump ship they won't be hitting me with any surprise final bills.
 

The flip side is that you'll be looking for money back from them, which may prove problematic.

[RiG]

Maybe going into tinfoil hat territory here but given the Tories seem to despise people WFH maybe this is why they aren't wanting to offer much in the way of help as they'd rather get folk back into the office. To the benefit of many of their donors of course.

 

[UsedToGoToCentralPark]

Interesting.

Who pays for it then? 

Love to know the two suppliers in question who are happy to let this go.

If you change the word supplier to biller then it makes more sense as these companies supply nothing apart from a bill. Doubt any bill company is paying for it but at the same time no billing company is losing out either.

There would need to be a central database somewhere that has every meter number in existence paired up with a billing company and anything missing would need to be researched further, guessing that isn't worth it or they would have done it by now.

[HEY_SIDNEY]

2 minutes ago, UsedToGoToCentralPark said:

If you change the word supplier to biller then it makes more sense as these companies supply nothing apart from a bill. Doubt any bill company is paying for it but at the same time no billing company is losing out either.

There would need to be a central database somewhere that has every meter number in existence paired up with a billing company and anything missing would need to be researched further, guessing that isn't worth it or they would have done it by now.

The company in question, or any reputable company, will have/should have a process in place that locates this missing amount - provided there are meter readings.
However, if no readings entered (original point) it will eventually catch up when a meter operative goes to the property and updates the readings, with most gas boxes being situated outside the home they dont need access (before anyone else states 'I'm not letting them in my house')

They take the last 'actual read' input the nearest read then back bill it and produce a bill for all customers that would be involved.

I imagine this happens few and far between but im surprised that any company lets it happen. 

[Suspect Device]

A small bonus from Santander. They have doubled the cashback on they pay on utility bill direct debits to 4% in September and October. 

Handy when that will be the big jump in my bill. My fixed deal ends in September and the new cap comes in October. 

[Detournement]

 

How could this happen? Check your display name hen

 

[19QOS19]

The flip side is that you'll be looking for money back from them, which may prove problematic.

We're still locked in to our rate until December so it's just building up the funds. Sadly, I doubt I'll have anything to claim back after Jan.

[Michael W]

2 hours ago, RiG said:

Maybe going into tinfoil hat territory here but given the Tories seem to despise people WFH maybe this is why they aren't wanting to offer much in the way of help as they'd rather get folk back into the office. To the benefit of many of their donors of course.

 

I've seen a fair bit of this and can't help but think it's a false economy in many cases. Are we just forgetting that commuting costs money? 

I see the attraction of using the company leccy and, if available, shower facilities to save money, but many people's commute will be more expensive than the saving. No doubt that WFH costs will increase, but in many cases not sufficiently so that going into the office will be financially beneficial. 

[Gordon EF]

4 hours ago, HEY_SIDNEY said:

Interesting.

Who pays for it then? 

Love to know the two suppliers in question who are happy to let this go.

If your meter doesn't move, then there's no record of your usage anywhere. If lots of folk were in that situation, suppliers would be constantly underestimating how much energy was actually being used so wouldn't buy enough, so the system would constantly be short. National Grid would pay generators to make up the shortfall (at a premium) and since no supplier would be registered as short, the bill would just go to the taxpayer I suppose.

Both Scottish Power and Bulb were happy to just let me use free electricity rather than replace the meter (although, tbf, the thieving b*****ds both tried to just make me pay on estimated usage). I've heard this a few times with Scottish Power.

Edited August 30, 2022 by Gordon EF

[54_and_counting]

1 hour ago, Michael W said:

I've seen a fair bit of this and can't help but think it's a false economy in many cases. Are we just forgetting that commuting costs money? 

I see the attraction of using the company leccy and, if available, shower facilities to save money, but many people's commute will be more expensive than the saving. No doubt that WFH costs will increase, but in many cases not sufficiently so that going into the office will be financially beneficial. 

Depends how you commute, aye its the longest and possibly the worst type to use, but using first bus in glasgow for example you can buy a 4 weekly ticket for unlimited glasgow use (and some surrounding areas) for 53 quid

[RH33]

Scottish Power have billed me for the three days they supplied my new house. Not sure how we got through £8.18 of electricity when nothing was plugged in! Add in standing charge and £10.75 for 3 days.

[Billy Jean King]

Maybe going into tinfoil hat territory here but given the Tories seem to despise people WFH maybe this is why they aren't wanting to offer much in the way of help as they'd rather get folk back into the office. To the benefit of many of their donors of course.
 

It's had the opposite effect at our place. The few left on "hybrid" contracts (most now have permanent WFH contracts and virtually no one returned FT post covid) are being told our buildings will close all day Friday to staff and public plus already rumours of a full winter closure all designed to save on heating and electricity. Its not going to cost £30 a day or anywhere near that to heat one room you work in.

[TxRover]

For those wondering how f**ked you are, here in the US, I just renewed for 3 years at £2.94 a month standing charge and £0.11 per kWh. Of course, you don’t have Trump’s bizarre s**t to worry about either!

In general, rates are about £0.15-0.20 per kWh for a 6-12 month lock.

[V.Aye.R]

4 hours ago, Michael W said:

I've seen a fair bit of this and can't help but think it's a false economy in many cases. Are we just forgetting that commuting costs money? 

I see the attraction of using the company leccy and, if available, shower facilities to save money, but many people's commute will be more expensive than the saving. No doubt that WFH costs will increase, but in many cases not sufficiently so that going into the office will be financially beneficial. 

I cycle to work the days im in the office so shower there etc. 

I reckon I save about £4.50 a day on fuel.

That said I still need to replenish the circa 1000 calories I burn doing so. 

[Elixir]