Energy bills - the increases.

[Workingman]

When the prices rose last year and companies were folding I decided to act. My landlord has all her properties on pre-pay meters but I said 'Sod it' and moved to a normal meter and standard tariff but just for gas. Got the meter changed, no problem.

I then asked Scot Power for a price plan. The best they could offer was £67 per month, just for the gas. 'No way, Jose', says I as that's more than the average I have been paying for gas and electricity over the years - I have spreadsheets. The three bills I have had for gas since then average out at £34 per month - this month I work it out at about £37 - and they are for autumn and winter and with the new price increases. Come spring and summer they will be minuscule. Since the 21st of December I have used £17.99 of electricity, that's on a pre-pay meter which is why I know. I am in almost all day every day - six room two bed flat - and I do not like to be cold.

I am now reading stories of people saying they are paying £60 or more extra per month since the increase, and some claiming rises of £1,400 per year (£116 pcm). They are on top of what they were using not in total. What are they living in: mansions? And are they sitting in T shirts and shorts on a cold winter's evening with the thermostat turned up?

Yes, of course the bills will go up further in April, I get that. I also do understand that many people are struggling with the bills. However, I do think that the media is picking out figures which are at the extreme end and using them emotively. They surely cannot be indicative of the rises across the board: can they?

[medsec222]

We changed to EDF recently and were given a fixed rate of £96. per month for gas and electricity. Three months down the line they are now saying it is £146 a month. We do use more in the winter months as do most people, but we are away quite a bit at the caravan over the year. I did read that the cost of energy firms folding and going bust is passed on to the customers. I wonder if it has become a bit of a rip off like the petrol prices.

[Workingman]

Meds, please let me make an assumption

I am thinking a three bed semi or similar. If so it is twice the size of my flat and £146 for dual fuel for two people makes your per capita price similar to mine so not too bad.

The absolutely most difficult thing I found when looking around for a change of supplier was unit prices and daily standing charges. All I could ever get were overall costs for various tariff deals - standard, 1yr fixed, 2yr fixed and variable. Nobody would let me know how many units I would be buying nor how much the standing charge is. And nobody anywhere has been able to explain why the fixed standing charge has gone up by what looks like the same % increase as the fuels. The pipes, wires and so on are not costing more - they are already in place.

[Suff]

I think I mentioned that wholesale gas price has gone up 10x since March.

They have to fund that from somewhere.

It is only because they were charging us so much in the first place that they are able to absorb that cost today without at least quadrupling the bills.

[TheOstrich]

And don't forget all the "green" levies we are being charged in our energy bills at the moment .....

We're currently incurring charges of around £1,000 pa for gas and electric here on a 2-bed bungalow, standard variable tariff. We're currently paying slightly more each month in practice, so we've got a credit balance going forwards as a cushion against future price rises. E.On give you the ability to set your own direct debit amount, so come March, depending on the state of play, I could reduce our payments for the summer if I wanted.

Based on records of consumption I've kept over the last few years, the "worst case scenario" for December - February winter monthly bills here should be £105 gas and £42 electric. Let's hope it stays mild!

And nobody anywhere has been able to explain why the fixed standing charge has gone up by what looks like the same % increase as the fuels.

That's interesting, the fixed standing charge on our electric bills actually went down from 0.2298 to 0.2296 from 1st October .....

[Suff]

And don't forget all the "green" levies we are being charged in our energy bills at the moment .....

You think yours are bad. France has the lowest per kw/h tariff for electricity in the EU. Yet over the top of that are the "green" levies. Nearly 40% of my bill..

[Workingman]

We all know that wholesale gas prices have risen enormously, it has never been out of the blood news, and nobody is suggesting that the gas companies be charities. they have to cover costs and make profit, of course they do.

After costs from March to mid September they were making about 67p per Therm from me, then it went neutral. By late September to the 6th of October they were losing 50p per therm. Then it flipped again and I was back to paying them but at only 12p per Therm profit. Then it went mad. On 3rd of December right through till now they have been losing 85p - £1 per Therm, and from the 13th to 30th December it was £2 per therm. Their losses are now dropping but this rollercoaster will run on till March and maybe beyond.

Now in the December period to now I will have used about 4.65 Therm so they have lost about £5, which is not a lot. However, multiply me by millions of other households and the losses become unsustainable. Prices had to go up, we all understand that.

What irks me is that we do not that side of things from the media. It sends packs of reporters out to look for the sob stories and worse case scenarios then makes them out to be the norm. Yes, millions are struggling but those on minimum wage or not much more will not be spending £1,400 on energy per year never mind an EXTRA £1,400!

Just to add. The £60 pcm and £1,400 per year represent 12% (1/8) of what those people were paying as there was a price cap!

[Suff]

Agree it is damned annoying the way the press and media cover it.

All these failures are the companies working on the breadline to win business and grow their market share. No margin and at even 50p per therm loss, they go under.

I'm just glad I buy my heating from a retired guy who bought the wood as in investment. They can stuff their gas, I don't partake. It was a very specific decision nearly a decade ago when saying NO to gas looked like a bad decision.

[Workingman]

It has come back in the news with another report from the Resolution foundation and the media has jumped on its £700 per year more claim - £60 pcm.

The BBC just ran a report on a poor disabled woman which showed that her energy bill, currently £84 pcm, will rise to £140 pcm. She pays by direct debit on standard tariff. That new bill is not her actual usage, it is what they think they can get out of her - see my earlier post.

My tip to her is to ditch DD and pay monthly. Get a pre-pay credit card, then put money on it weekly, enough to cover what you think a bill will be then pay it off from the card. It might be tough till the warmer weather comes in and a late top-up in order to pay might sometimes be needed but then things will change. Once it gets lighter and warmer keep paying a fixed amount in - makes budgeting easier. Come the end of summer a nice balance will have been built up which will run down over the winter but the weekly payments will stay the same. She will also qualify for a winter heating allowance. That should be put on the card and not kept in her current account. Throughout the year she will come nothing near an average of £140 pcm.

[Suff]

It has always been the case that those most in need of good advice and management for bill payment are the worst served in the community. This whole DD thing needs a good hard look. Perhaps the government should force the utilities to pay interest on all money overcharged. 5% above the base rate should be enough to force them to stop it.

Then, perhaps, they might be forced to look for innovative and beneficial ways for customers to pre pay into their "heating fund" and get a benefit out of it.

Whilst a pre pay credit card is one way, a second bank account and direct bank transfers is another. The money is not in the main account, only in the bill paying account. It may attract pitiful interest, but it will be less costly than the pre pay, most of which charge for topping up and some charge for use. The bank account doesn't need a debit card, just the ability to transfer funds to the utilities.

In fact if you are smart enough, balancing gas, electric, water, council tax, may work to an advantage where one can be balanced against the other and putting in the monthly payments against the big single bill can be beneficial for fluctuation in bills so long as the large bill money is there when needed.

Sadly not everyone has the knowledge or the control to run their finances this way.