I'm so sick of this. I barely have my heating on because of the prices. They're forcing us to pay for something we're not using by that standing charge.
whether you use it or not, the gas lines and power lines need to be serviced. It's fair. What we need to point our anger to is the incompetence/corruption of the government who were not able to secure cheaper energy partnerships OR higher value of the pound OR economic growth... That's the failure, not the standing charge.
@@toddheartsound5451 My anger goes to the stupid woman in the 80s who privatised our energy on the grounds it would be more efficient and competetively priced!
@@toddheartsound5451 it's fair 😮are you real it is not fair at all we are being ripped off we pay more than any other country nothing fair about it at all
@@davidbowser5274 we pay more because we voted for the dumbest choices. It's our fault. Net Zero is a disaster costing the tax payers hundreds of billions, creating enormous inefficiency, bureaucracy and waste. Also, our idiotic choice of not building more nuclear plants.
Correct.Standing charges are money for old rope which ends up in CEO's pockets and should be scrapped. I can't believe they are raising prices by £21 per year.Are they that desperate for money. And to put it down to the war in Ukraine is a complete lie,as we only get 4% of our energy from Russia.Does anybody remember what Rishi Sunak said when he was the Chancellor.He said that when people were furloughed that they would get the furlough money back somehow.!!!!
Standing charges really Really REALLY irritate me to my core. I’ve just signed up to EON for another 18months (@56p electric, 33p gas) day standing charge. £316 a year before actual energy use in my 1 bed. It just feels criminal. I’m tired of being cold.
We are paying the highest energy charges in Europe this will continue standing charge , unit rates it doesn`t matter they will always find a way to charge us more regardless of their colour excuses its a rip off.
The tories should never have sold off the companies owned by the people of this country, telecoms, gas, electric, water and so on. They created a monster that's affected the people of this country terribly.
The problem isn't that it's private though is it? The problem is they sold it off to foreign investors who don't care about the UK, and don't care about anything other than profit. Also there is nobody stopping you investing in these energy companies and getting some of your heating and electric bills paid by them.
Foreign owners should be banned or Brits charged the same as that company charges that countries customers, this would guarantee we would be saving because I would be surprised if there are any countries in Europe paying more than the U.K.
Thank you for not talking about typical use and just sticking to the facts, p/kwh and % Changes! The media use the typical use measurements to understate the impact to householders in the same way CPI understates the impact of inflation to goods and services. My CPI/RPI basket of goods doesn't include tinned cat food.... :)
What's happened to all that "cheap" wind energy we're supposed to be benefiting from? Why is electricity still being charged for as if it was generated from gas powered stations? Why do we British tolerate the highest energy costs in Europe? Government policy has a direct effect on energy costs, isn't it time they stared creating policy that benefits voters, not big energy companies?
Wholesale electricity prices are set by the most expensive generation source for each half hour period (a stupid system). Wind farms and the like are paid as if they used gas. It basically an auction process, with the cheapest source being chosen first, then the next most expensive and so on until they get enough power to meet the demand. I can cope with that, but not the outcome that they all get paid the same rate. To me a sensible approach would be to run the auction in the same way, but cap a cheap bidders payment to now more than a fixed % (say 200%?) above their original bid.
My central heating is no longer used. I heat one room every now and then with a ten minute blast to keep the chill off and wear four layers of clothing, thick thermal socks and a fleece lined beanie hat with a thick throw over me when sitting on the sofa. My October bill shows my standing charge is £3.36 more than my usage charge.
Thank you for debunking the tariffs and charges. My heart goes out to all who are struggling and I honestly wish this government and agencies would do some good for the population instead of adding to the constant financial battering everyone is taking.
What I want to know is WHY are the tariffs going up?? What possible justification - apart obviously from PROFIT! - do these companies have for raiseing the tariffs - and then again, and then again?? It is OUTRAGEOUS!! And then in the middle of summer they lower them - when people don't need the heat as much - and then raise them again in the cold weather - when people do. Greed and capitalism at its absolute WORST!! Thank you Martin for all you do to help.
OFGEM was meant to be the regulator that stopped this, they were meant to look after the consumer, but they really just work for the private companies now. Bought and paid for just like the government. Don't worry though the entire cabinet , all parties even the greens can claim their electric and gas back on expenses. so its not all bad 🤔
Ofgem (the energy regulator) is responsible for setting the price cap, not energy suppliers. The biggest factor impacting what level Ofgem sets the price cap at is wholesale market energy prices (i.e. the price of electricity and gas that your energy supplier would pay). Of course there are other fluctuations (e.g. the big spike after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine), but as a general trend this goes up in the winter as demand increases, and drops again in the summer. To the point of whether energy suppliers should be increasing their prices in line with the price cap - if any supplier thought it was commercially viable and profitable for them to price significantly below the price cap (e.g. to gain market share), they would. The fact is they almost never do. Small suppliers will occasionally price meaningfully below the cap, and I would encourage you to go hunting for those deals if you are on a variable tariff as it shouldn’t cost you anything to switch, however you then also have to consider customer service levels and long term prospects of those small suppliers. If you are looking for someone to blame, the easiest people to point fingers at are the government that privatised the energy industry in the 80s thinking it would lead to efficiencies and meaningful competition on price. It is even worse in the water sector where each regional supplier has a completely captive consumer base and therefore no competition at all.
I plan to install a DIY solar panel system. I do not anticipate any changes in energy suppliers, even next year. Should we find ourselves in any form of conflict, I am taking precautions.😱😱👍👍
Almost £250/year just to have a meter that nobody ever reads, unit rates up by 12% this year, pensioners winter allowance gone and a lot of people with storage heaters, me included, will leave them off again because we can't afford to heat our homes. 14C in my front room and 16C upstairs as I sit in front of a small electric fire hooked up to my solar panels on the shed roof. This gives me enough stored energy to run the heater for about 5 hours a day which is good, I'm on UC due to ill health, because I can't afford to run 3 storage heaters at an approximate cost of £5/heater/day.
Wont fix as I will have to have a smart meter! also when the deal runs out the price goes up by more than what you are used to, I'd rather it go up gradually, rather than a bit hit at once, especially if its 2 or 3 year fixed deals, seen it before back in the 90s!
This country gets a really bad cold weather snap and this government goes " Oh great lets put the cost energy up again" we can make more money and we will have less elderly to pay out too.
I'm an ecofreak - I don't use my gas heating at all, winter or summer and only use hot water (via the gas boiler) to wash dishes once a day - last month, the standing charge was more than the cost of gas used.
Reality check...the UK energy prices are the highest in the world.... and we already pay for electricity on government taxes from the national grid..we are being taken for fools.
What i find incredible is covid happened 4 years ago and prices have increased ever since. Ofcom knew about the standing charge 3 years ago and were 'looking into it' where everyone starting questioning the excessive prices. This update from ML makes it's appear it's taken them maybe a month or so to actually start the consultation and ONLY THEN can Ofcom and GOV start discussing the issue. If they had bothered to actually do their job earlier we could be out of the discussion phase and actually / maybe start to implement the 2 diff price price caps (great idea btw as i have always preferred to fix at the lowest Standing charge and a higher per unit rate) .. But we all know they are all in it together so nothing will be done now and this will be the norm.
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Years ago, energy companies used to offer tariffs where there was no standing charge, but instead a dual unit charge.. First xxx units at high rate subsequent ones at a lower rate. These disappeared around the time the government intervened in the market (2014?). Does anyone know why?
I'm friends with an energy company's CEO, I won't say who. He gave an interesting perspective as he outlined that he has a mansion to pay for, kids private school to pay for, and their backpacking trip through Asia. So before people complain, think about others. Jet fuel isn't going to pay for itself.
I count myself quite lucky at the moment. I got rejected twice when trying to get on Eon 3% lower than price cap tracker, wasting a couple of weeks (my own fault. Typos!) On the third attempt, it was just as Eon had launched the 8% lower fix. I got accepted within seconds and was switched the very next day. Turning off the VPN helped with the speed of acceptance, I'm sure.
Huge unemployment in the pipe line - my central heating is now a luxury I rarely use - I use hot water bottles and thermal clothing until I light my wood stove after I come home from walking my pooch - no such thing as a 'cheap fix'
Am on a cheap pre-pay tariff fix which has another 4 and a bit months to go. My standing charges are over a £1 per day, 71p electric and 30p gas. The electric unit rate is 22.56p, gas is 5.85p. Yesterday coldest day of the winter so far I used about £6 in electric and gas. Am on PIP and sickness benefit. Am lucky I can afford to pay. I live in a housing ass. flat that is poorly insulated. It costs a small fortune to keep warm. I can have the heating on full blast 24/7 and still be freezing cold when it is minus 10 outside. I live on high ground in the north east.
UK Electricity Prices Highest in the World New data from the Government shows the UK has the highest industrial and domestic electricity prices of the 28 countries tracked by the IEA. UK industrial electricity prices at 25.85p/kWh are the highest of the 28 countries covered by the IEA report. UK prices are some four times those in the US, 2.6 times those of Korea and 46% higher than the IEA median. Given that UK gas prices are below the IEA median and those of France and Germany it cannot be gas prices that are driving UK electricity prices so much higher than elsewhere. Canada, Norway, Finland, Sweden, New Zealand and Portugal all have industrial electricity prices less than 10p/kWh. We cannot hope to compete in traditional energy intensive industries or industries of the future like making batteries or AI with such extortionate electricity prices.
We had a record warm winter last year. And this winter is likely to be warmer... So climate change will help as well as hinder., also, I pay about £8 for indoor solar lights that last 5-7 years, saving me over £100 for the life of that solar light! I have solar panels that also let me change anything that is charged through USB, like phones, etc, so I have an electric bill in the winter, of about £55 a month!
Do you live in a shed? or still using logs for heating? Or are you just looking to cut the pennies off your bill now that you've got solar panels & battery :)
Hmm... it is a shame that he did not comment on the how the prices of power and gas compare with other countries. We are paying more that most developed countries for these commodities so it is unclear as to why prices need to rise.
@Dr.Stacker The offers on EDF now are more expensive than the fixed rate I got in October. My son got a cheaper 27 month fixed rate from British Gas today.
Even if everyone didn't use any gas or electric they energy companies will make a profit. The standing charge should be scrapped and so should monthly payments. The original idea for smart meters was that you paid for what you used every quarter no other charges. No putting huge amounts of cash into energy company banks to gather interest.
What does it mean? It means we’re being taken for mugs, just on the standing charge alone, the excuse is it’s for maintenance, balls, if the infrastructure costs upwards of £50Million a day to maintain something is seriously wrong. Just work out the standing charge figures, they are astronomical in total, we’re talking billions of pounds a year for “maintenance” while other counties don’t have standing charges, their electricity costs a fraction of what it does here, and their infrastructure is maintained from profits made by the operators, we’re being ripped off plain and simple.
So while shop lifting is going through the roof, food banks cant feed people, rent is to high, food prices are to high, energy prices are high, the answer is to put prices up on Energy, which will increase supermarket prices, so food will go up yet again, food banks will die out, so will people. Its to expensive to live nowadays. I guess Im going to freeze to death, not bothered if I die anymore now.
What I dont understand is when you phone up an energy company and ask for a monthly price so you know what price to expect they can under estimate the cost ie£60 a month and then you end up with a big catch up bill. I complained about this and they thought I was trying not to pay but I was complaining about how the estimate was under quoted even though I asked if they were correct at the time and if it would cover costs
Energy company profit is the difference between the wholesale price they buy at and the retail price they charge us. They set this retail price. Why do their profits rise with each increase in the cap? Surely profit should remain the same if the mark-up from wholesale to retail prices is kept the same? It's blatant profiteering. The companies profit is what should be capped. And standing charge increases are a sneaky way of making even more.
Hi Martin could you at some point clear up the vehicle excise duty changes (2025) for vehicles alread registered. I'm due to buy a used vehicle and don't want to incur unnecessary costs on RFL.
@@SevenEllen First of all, it is 'opposed' not 'supposed', and secondly, the last one was only slightly less useless. Stop this whataboutism nonsense, enough already. You are doing more damage than you realize, be better.
Привіт, тут твій друг Зеленський. Ми дуже цінуємо добрий вчинок британської громадськості, яка шукає під дошками підлоги енергетичні угоди. до речі, мені потрібен ще один мільйон для наступної зйомки Prada. коли ти це надсилаєш? слава україні
Ofgem needs to be disbanded along with ofwat and ofcom. Just one question, Trump. If he actually does what he says then energy prices will begin to fall
what I did was got a deal that was cheap on direct debit but never set it up because it was £250 pm now just pay on average £100 to £150 pm ask if was ok with my energy supplier thay say yes so now I just drip feed them the money throughout the month when Its best for us so my family stay worm
The way to lower/eliminate the standing charge without increasing the unit rate is to NATIONALISE. The government is our currency issuer - it has an infinite amount of money. They can run it at a loss because they can never run out of the money that only they are legally allowed to issue. We shouldn't have to pay for basic utilities, they are a human right and they should be free!
I get where your coming from but its not free is it, a lot material and labour costs to make the service your provided work. Its either going to come out your pocket through standing charges or in higher tax :(
@@LawrenceTimme Who said anything about printing infinite money? I said they have an infinite amount available to them which is a basic macroeconomic fact. That means the issue is never about affordability but about resources. A currency-issuing government can afford anything that is for sale in its own currency. In fact, as the issuer, it can even set prices to some extent. With regards to the utilities it doesn't even have to cost anything to buy them back. The government could easily put a Bill before Parliament saying these industries are now state-owned and the current owners will receive £0 in compensation. We can now do this because we are no longer bound by EU competition law, specifically Article 106 of the Lisbon Treaty which bans the renationalissation of privatised industry. It's also what the Attlee government did in 1948 to create the NHS.
I would like to know how the income derived from the "standing charge" is spent. My understanding is it goes to the cost of changing to solar and wind generating infrastructure. At some point, fossil fuels will dwindle, making renewables an essential asset. Global warming is already damaging property, and costing lives and destroyed property. The earth is going to continue to get warmer, for decades, whatever efforts are made to slow or stop it. We need to adjust to more global warming. We are already paying for the solar and wind generating infrastructure, income should become an asset belonging to "us" so the profit is distributed to "us", not a bunch of shareholders and executives.
The standing charges include the price of keeping your home connected to the energy network, carrying out meter readings, maintenance and other related charges. Part of your standing charge will also go towards the cost of government initiatives aimed at helping vulnerable homes and reducing carbon emissions.
@@Dollie-f2c You forgot the dramatic increase in standing charge, to make payment to creditors for the insolvency of failed suppliers. This is the only time I know of where the customer had to pay for debt of companies bankruptcy.
No, We must do everything we can to prevent natural cycles from functioning and instead condition the people to pay us for these so called global warming efforts
@@Dollie-f2c they dont do any maintenance or read any meters. I have electric only. They are JUST billing agents. They don't supply electricity or gas. They don't fix it if it breaks. 😆.
Unless they're actually rich, wheelchair users and such should be getting a mobility allowance, and people on dialysis and such should be getting some other benefit(s) (as well?) to help with their increased cost of living. So a slightly higher unit rate for energy shouldn't affect them too much. A lower standing charge and slightly higher price per unit of energy used should benefit the most people - and all the nutter "Climate change is caused by human activities" nutters, should be very happy, as the more you consume/pollute, the more you pay. And as others have said, if you don't shop in a particular store, or you don't catch the bus or train, on a particular day, they don't expect you to pay them something anyway just for the privilege of store being there to use. So the "Standing Charge" shouldn't even exist!
Jumper won’t fit over the coat. Heat isn’t even on. House at nine degrees. What more do you want me to do? Still can’t afford to pay the bills that keep coming.
Well we arent say young and we felt affects of leaving heating off. Even our cat showed asthma symptoms. It will cost NHS more money if people are ill. Is this why elderly are given pneumonia jabs? I cant claim benefits after a stroke that gives me lacunae syndrome so we live on one pension. We are therefore not eligable for £300 money help. Also my ill Mom. … we have been told by her council her nursing home fee cash contribution is worked out by her having pension credit and attendance allowancenhigh rate. She doeant receive these. I have been claiming months. Its fun when you phone and they ask for security questions to be answered by your Mom when she is 1. Deaf 2. Confused and doesnt know if its night or day! So if you are really ill you cant give security answers as you are indeed too ill. How does that work! Then we will have to sell her house to pay for the balance of her home
I'm too busy trying to get hgv agency work to give a shit I served in the army for many years where you didn't care and I still don't care If your skint, pitch a tent and cook on a trangia cooker Simple Also go sea fishing from the shore to get a nice meal Stevie in fife
I'm so sick of this. I barely have my heating on because of the prices. They're forcing us to pay for something we're not using by that standing charge.
whether you use it or not, the gas lines and power lines need to be serviced. It's fair.
What we need to point our anger to is the incompetence/corruption of the government who were not able to secure cheaper energy partnerships OR higher value of the pound OR economic growth... That's the failure, not the standing charge.
Sounds like You can afford the standing charge not everyone can thanks for your concern
@@toddheartsound5451 My anger goes to the stupid woman in the 80s who privatised our energy on the grounds it would be more efficient and competetively priced!
@@toddheartsound5451 it's fair 😮are you real it is not fair at all we are being ripped off we pay more than any other country nothing fair about it at all
@@davidbowser5274 we pay more because we voted for the dumbest choices. It's our fault.
Net Zero is a disaster costing the tax payers hundreds of billions, creating enormous inefficiency, bureaucracy and waste.
Also, our idiotic choice of not building more nuclear plants.
What would we do without him the only honest one out there ❤
That's because he's not a politician!
I notice he has to still push his own sites which he gets kick backs on though 🤣
The regulators are not peotecting consumers instead they protect private profits. Its so obvious when you look at water companies.
Only thing they regulate are their own salaries/expenses all funded by the taxpayer.
Standing charges are ridiculous.
'Obscene' is the word. Paying for heating when it's not on is like paying for air on the other side of the planet we're not breathing.
Dale Vince will disagree with you.
Correct.Standing charges are money for old rope which ends up in CEO's pockets and should be scrapped.
I can't believe they are raising prices by £21 per year.Are they that desperate for money.
And to put it down to the war in Ukraine is a complete lie,as we only get 4% of our energy from Russia.Does anybody remember what Rishi Sunak said when he was the Chancellor.He said that when people were furloughed that they would get the furlough money back somehow.!!!!
@@SevenEllendisconnect it then, don't pay for gas anymore as don't have a meter.
Standing charges really Really REALLY irritate me to my core. I’ve just signed up to EON for another 18months (@56p electric, 33p gas) day standing charge.
£316 a year before actual energy use in my 1 bed. It just feels criminal. I’m tired of being cold.
Thx as always for your work Martin, very much appreciated
Standing charges should be abolished we pay far to much as it is for our energy to the money grabbing companies.
We are paying the highest energy charges in Europe this will continue standing charge , unit rates it doesn`t matter they will always find a way to charge us more regardless of their colour excuses its a rip off.
The tories should never have sold off the companies owned by the people of this country, telecoms, gas, electric, water and so on. They created a monster that's affected the people of this country terribly.
It's almost like public infrastructure should be publicly owned, not out to benefit shareholders
That's very lazy and tired thinking. Prices are up not just because of greed but because of the green new scam and the climate cult agenda.
So we would have another nhs bottomless pit where money is wasted in its millions, get some shares and reap the dividends.
The problem isn't that it's private though is it? The problem is they sold it off to foreign investors who don't care about the UK, and don't care about anything other than profit.
Also there is nobody stopping you investing in these energy companies and getting some of your heating and electric bills paid by them.
Foreign owners should be banned or Brits charged the same as that company charges that countries customers, this would guarantee we would be saving because I would be surprised if there are any countries in Europe paying more than the U.K.
Thank you for not talking about typical use and just sticking to the facts, p/kwh and % Changes! The media use the typical use measurements to understate the impact to householders in the same way CPI understates the impact of inflation to goods and services. My CPI/RPI basket of goods doesn't include tinned cat food.... :)
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someone that understand simple math would be fantastic, approved!
Prime minister and energy minister. Get rid of Ed Sillymam
What's happened to all that "cheap" wind energy we're supposed to be benefiting from?
Why is electricity still being charged for as if it was generated from gas powered stations?
Why do we British tolerate the highest energy costs in Europe?
Government policy has a direct effect on energy costs, isn't it time they stared creating policy that benefits voters, not big energy companies?
Wholesale electricity prices are set by the most expensive generation source for each half hour period (a stupid system). Wind farms and the like are paid as if they used gas.
It basically an auction process, with the cheapest source being chosen first, then the next most expensive and so on until they get enough power to meet the demand. I can cope with that, but not the outcome that they all get paid the same rate. To me a sensible approach would be to run the auction in the same way, but cap a cheap bidders payment to now more than a fixed % (say 200%?) above their original bid.
My central heating is no longer used. I heat one room every now and then with a ten minute blast to keep the chill off and wear four layers of clothing, thick thermal socks and a fleece lined beanie hat with a thick throw over me when sitting on the sofa. My October bill shows my standing charge is £3.36 more than my usage charge.
If you have a gas boiler then you're probably do more harm than good by only heating one room. It's probably short cycling.
Thank you for debunking the tariffs and charges. My heart goes out to all who are struggling and I honestly wish this government and agencies would do some good for the population instead of adding to the constant financial battering everyone is taking.
What I want to know is WHY are the tariffs going up?? What possible justification - apart obviously from PROFIT! - do these companies have for raiseing the tariffs - and then again, and then again?? It is OUTRAGEOUS!! And then in the middle of summer they lower them - when people don't need the heat as much - and then raise them again in the cold weather - when people do. Greed and capitalism at its absolute WORST!! Thank you Martin for all you do to help.
OFGEM was meant to be the regulator that stopped this, they were meant to look after the consumer, but they really just work for the private companies now. Bought and paid for just like the government. Don't worry though the entire cabinet , all parties even the greens can claim their electric and gas back on expenses. so its not all bad 🤔
Makes sense that when demand is high you need to raise prices to make sure there isn't over consumption.
Ofgem (the energy regulator) is responsible for setting the price cap, not energy suppliers. The biggest factor impacting what level Ofgem sets the price cap at is wholesale market energy prices (i.e. the price of electricity and gas that your energy supplier would pay). Of course there are other fluctuations (e.g. the big spike after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine), but as a general trend this goes up in the winter as demand increases, and drops again in the summer.
To the point of whether energy suppliers should be increasing their prices in line with the price cap - if any supplier thought it was commercially viable and profitable for them to price significantly below the price cap (e.g. to gain market share), they would. The fact is they almost never do. Small suppliers will occasionally price meaningfully below the cap, and I would encourage you to go hunting for those deals if you are on a variable tariff as it shouldn’t cost you anything to switch, however you then also have to consider customer service levels and long term prospects of those small suppliers.
If you are looking for someone to blame, the easiest people to point fingers at are the government that privatised the energy industry in the 80s thinking it would lead to efficiencies and meaningful competition on price. It is even worse in the water sector where each regional supplier has a completely captive consumer base and therefore no competition at all.
@@LawrenceTimmemakes sense to fleece the public as well doesn't it?.
@@bigbrownbear1231the government should abolish ofcom, it's clearly not fit for purpose.
I plan to install a DIY solar panel system. I do not anticipate any changes in energy suppliers, even next year. Should we find ourselves in any form of conflict, I am taking precautions.😱😱👍👍
Almost £250/year just to have a meter that nobody ever reads, unit rates up by 12% this year, pensioners winter allowance gone and a lot of people with storage heaters, me included, will leave them off again because we can't afford to heat our homes. 14C in my front room and 16C upstairs as I sit in front of a small electric fire hooked up to my solar panels on the shed roof. This gives me enough stored energy to run the heater for about 5 hours a day which is good, I'm on UC due to ill health, because I can't afford to run 3 storage heaters at an approximate cost of £5/heater/day.
I think more people will be turning to solar powered heating and only heating one room.
@@chrysalis4126 May aswell bring back the chimneys and throw logs in at this point haha
Wont fix as I will have to have a smart meter! also when the deal runs out the price goes up by more than what you are used to, I'd rather it go up gradually, rather than a bit hit at once, especially if its 2 or 3 year fixed deals, seen it before back in the 90s!
The defies common sense.
The BBC drives me up the wall by repeating the 'typical bill' meaningless garbage. Standing charges here in South Australia are $1AUD perday.
I wish Martin would challenge the government, and ask them why we are paying the most in the WORLD for energy... and its getting worse?
This country gets a really bad cold weather snap and this government goes " Oh great lets put the cost energy up again" we can make more money and we will have less elderly to pay out too.
I'm an ecofreak - I don't use my gas heating at all, winter or summer and only use hot water (via the gas boiler) to wash dishes once a day - last month, the standing charge was more than the cost of gas used.
Reality check...the UK energy prices are the highest in the world.... and we already pay for electricity on government taxes from the national grid..we are being taken for fools.
What i find incredible is covid happened 4 years ago and prices have increased ever since. Ofcom knew about the standing charge 3 years ago and were 'looking into it' where everyone starting questioning the excessive prices. This update from ML makes it's appear it's taken them maybe a month or so to actually start the consultation and ONLY THEN can Ofcom and GOV start discussing the issue. If they had bothered to actually do their job earlier we could be out of the discussion phase and actually / maybe start to implement the 2 diff price price caps (great idea btw as i have always preferred to fix at the lowest Standing charge and a higher per unit rate) .. But we all know they are all in it together so nothing will be done now and this will be the norm.
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If companies are making profit, then there is no crisis, just GREED! I'm scared to put the heat on.
Years ago, energy companies used to offer tariffs where there was no standing charge, but instead a dual unit charge.. First xxx units at high rate subsequent ones at a lower rate. These disappeared around the time the government intervened in the market (2014?). Does anyone know why?
I'm friends with an energy company's CEO, I won't say who. He gave an interesting perspective as he outlined that he has a mansion to pay for, kids private school to pay for, and their backpacking trip through Asia. So before people complain, think about others. Jet fuel isn't going to pay for itself.
So your friend is benefiting on the backs of the poorest people in society?
🚨 Beware the censored comments section. 🚨 No reasonable tepid opinions allowed.
Sick of the greed. I was paying £60p/m all in gas/leccy up till this cold snap. Easily gunna add £100 onto my bill for the extra heating.
" Rip Off Britain "
Exactly
Thanks Martin
As the Depeche Mode single says ' The grabbing hands grab all they can, everything counts in large amounts'
Utilita don't have a standing charge on gas & electricity! Great company in every way.
I count myself quite lucky at the moment. I got rejected twice when trying to get on Eon 3% lower than price cap tracker, wasting a couple of weeks (my own fault. Typos!) On the third attempt, it was just as Eon had launched the 8% lower fix. I got accepted within seconds and was switched the very next day. Turning off the VPN helped with the speed of acceptance, I'm sure.
Huge unemployment in the pipe line - my central heating is now a luxury I rarely use - I use hot water bottles and thermal clothing until I light my wood stove after I come home from walking my pooch - no such thing as a 'cheap fix'
Martin, is this to fund the war in Ukraine?
Am on a cheap pre-pay tariff fix which has another 4 and a bit months to go. My standing charges are over a £1 per day, 71p electric and 30p gas. The electric unit rate is 22.56p, gas is 5.85p. Yesterday coldest day of the winter so far I used about £6 in electric and gas. Am on PIP and sickness benefit. Am lucky I can afford to pay. I live in a housing ass. flat that is poorly insulated. It costs a small fortune to keep warm. I can have the heating on full blast 24/7 and still be freezing cold when it is minus 10 outside. I live on high ground in the north east.
Buy a house in the south.
UK Electricity Prices Highest in the World
New data from the Government shows the UK has the highest industrial and domestic electricity prices of the 28 countries tracked by the IEA.
UK industrial electricity prices at 25.85p/kWh are the highest of the 28 countries covered by the IEA report. UK prices are some four times those in the US, 2.6 times those of Korea and 46% higher than the IEA median. Given that UK gas prices are below the IEA median and those of France and Germany it cannot be gas prices that are driving UK electricity prices so much higher than elsewhere. Canada, Norway, Finland, Sweden, New Zealand and Portugal all have industrial electricity prices less than 10p/kWh. We cannot hope to compete in traditional energy intensive industries or industries of the future like making batteries or AI with such extortionate electricity prices.
We had a record warm winter last year. And this winter is likely to be warmer... So climate change will help as well as hinder., also, I pay about £8 for indoor solar lights that last 5-7 years, saving me over £100 for the life of that solar light! I have solar panels that also let me change anything that is charged through USB, like phones, etc, so I have an electric bill in the winter, of about £55 a month!
Perhaps we should charge a standing charge to companies for not being the cheapest.
My standing charge atm makes up 80% of my bill each month
Do you live in a shed? or still using logs for heating? Or are you just looking to cut the pennies off your bill now that you've got solar panels & battery :)
I don’t use heating because of sensory issues yet I’m penalised into paying the standing charge and can’t get rid of the account. It’s grossly unfair.
Very informative, cheers
Hmm... it is a shame that he did not comment on the how the prices of power and gas compare with other countries. We are paying more that most developed countries for these commodities so it is unclear as to why prices need to rise.
If 100% of the UK’s energy needs was met by wind generation why would the electricity unit price be linked to gas………..this needs to change.
Michelle Mone can pay our bills
So glad I fixed last month until 2025 with EDF.
Some say EDF offer lower fixed prices as you're effectively employed as a part time accountant to correct thier statement errors
@Dr.Stacker The offers on EDF now are more expensive than the fixed rate I got in October. My son got a cheaper 27 month fixed rate from British Gas today.
Why hasn't energy costs started coming down in the UK?
Because energy companies aren't making enough profit as it is!!
Exactly!
How selling national service to private companies we end up here. Oh France are paying minimal, yes we paying for them
Even if everyone didn't use any gas or electric they energy companies will make a profit. The standing charge should be scrapped and so should monthly payments. The original idea for smart meters was that you paid for what you used every quarter no other charges. No putting huge amounts of cash into energy company banks to gather interest.
What does it mean? It means we’re being taken for mugs, just on the standing charge alone, the excuse is it’s for maintenance, balls, if the infrastructure costs upwards of £50Million a day to maintain something is seriously wrong. Just work out the standing charge figures, they are astronomical in total, we’re talking billions of pounds a year for “maintenance” while other counties don’t have standing charges, their electricity costs a fraction of what it does here, and their infrastructure is maintained from profits made by the operators, we’re being ripped off plain and simple.
So while shop lifting is going through the roof, food banks cant feed people, rent is to high, food prices are to high, energy prices are high, the answer is to put prices up on Energy, which will increase supermarket prices, so food will go up yet again, food banks will die out, so will people. Its to expensive to live nowadays. I guess Im going to freeze to death, not bothered if I die anymore now.
What I dont understand is when you phone up an energy company and ask for a monthly price so you know what price to expect they can under estimate the cost ie£60 a month and then you end up with a big catch up bill. I complained about this and they thought I was trying not to pay but I was complaining about how the estimate was under quoted even though I asked if they were correct at the time and if it would cover costs
Standing charges are criminal 😓
It's not a price cap. It's an industry standard.
We are simply Tax-cattle, Period.
People are just not paying it anymore. Energy poverty is 2.3 billion right now, it just can't continue.
🙌🏾🙌🏾🇬🇧
Energy company profit is the difference between the wholesale price they buy at and the retail price they charge us. They set this retail price. Why do their profits rise with each increase in the cap? Surely profit should remain the same if the mark-up from wholesale to retail prices is kept the same?
It's blatant profiteering. The companies profit is what should be capped. And standing charge increases are a sneaky way of making even more.
It means that they are not on the side of the consumer
Glad I invested in renewables
Great advice , but I'm hoping for peace in europe , so that might bring the gas price down .
Hi Martin could you at some point clear up the vehicle excise duty changes (2025) for vehicles alread registered.
I'm due to buy a used vehicle and don't want to incur unnecessary costs on RFL.
This government will be the death of us.
Literally for many, I am thinking of the elderly and vulnerable who suffer the most under this completely heartless government.
As supposed to the last one??
@@SevenEllenWhich was literally the death of many people throughout the mismanagement of the Covid pandemic.
You will have be starminated by the starminator 😂😂
@@SevenEllen First of all, it is 'opposed' not 'supposed', and secondly, the last one was only slightly less useless.
Stop this whataboutism nonsense, enough already.
You are doing more damage than you realize, be better.
Is Octopus Tracker still a good option?
I've gone for octopus fixed
Yes I’m still on Octopus Tracker and not gone on a fixed. Tracker standing charges are so much lower. Go on their app and compare.
What about standing charge on smart meters ❤
Привіт, тут твій друг Зеленський. Ми дуже цінуємо добрий вчинок британської громадськості, яка шукає під дошками підлоги енергетичні угоди. до речі, мені потрібен ще один мільйон для наступної зйомки Prada. коли ти це надсилаєш? слава україні
We where all fooled about the price cap, now we know if a cap is created then competition is dead
It doesn't matter how much but is. 11 degrees in my house still feels like 11 degrees.
Worlds expensive energy 😢😢
gb energy is the great British energy bill 🥶🥶
This is absolutely totally disgusting
Ofgem needs to be disbanded along with ofwat and ofcom. Just one question, Trump. If he actually does what he says then energy prices will begin to fall
The country is becoming a subscription service, pay to survive.
what I did was got a deal that was cheap on direct debit but never set it up because it was £250 pm now just pay on average £100 to £150 pm ask if was ok with my energy supplier thay say yes so now I just drip feed them the money throughout the month when Its best for us so my family stay worm
Sorry. All people are bothered about us unit price and standing charge
martin, if you really care about these prices, you need to campaign AGAINST NET ZERO
So what happened to kommie keir say we as a government will reduce bills by 300 pounds
He’s putting them up a few thousand first.
The way to lower/eliminate the standing charge without increasing the unit rate is to NATIONALISE. The government is our currency issuer - it has an infinite amount of money. They can run it at a loss because they can never run out of the money that only they are legally allowed to issue.
We shouldn't have to pay for basic utilities, they are a human right and they should be free!
I get where your coming from but its not free is it, a lot material and labour costs to make the service your provided work. Its either going to come out your pocket through standing charges or in higher tax :(
Lol 😂😂😂 nothing is free and they can't just print infinite money. How silly 😂
@@LawrenceTimme Who said anything about printing infinite money? I said they have an infinite amount available to them which is a basic macroeconomic fact.
That means the issue is never about affordability but about resources. A currency-issuing government can afford anything that is for sale in its own currency. In fact, as the issuer, it can even set prices to some extent.
With regards to the utilities it doesn't even have to cost anything to buy them back. The government could easily put a Bill before Parliament saying these industries are now state-owned and the current owners will receive £0 in compensation. We can now do this because we are no longer bound by EU competition law, specifically Article 106 of the Lisbon Treaty which bans the renationalissation of privatised industry. It's also what the Attlee government did in 1948 to create the NHS.
I would like to know how the income derived from the "standing charge" is spent.
My understanding is it goes to the cost of changing to solar and wind generating infrastructure.
At some point, fossil fuels will dwindle, making renewables an essential asset.
Global warming is already damaging property, and costing lives and destroyed property.
The earth is going to continue to get warmer, for decades, whatever efforts are made to slow or stop it.
We need to adjust to more global warming. We are already paying for the solar and wind generating infrastructure, income should become an asset belonging to "us" so the profit is
distributed to "us", not a bunch of shareholders and executives.
The standing charges include the price of keeping your home connected to the energy network, carrying out meter readings, maintenance and other related charges. Part of your standing charge will also go towards the cost of government initiatives aimed at helping vulnerable homes and reducing carbon emissions.
@@Dollie-f2c You forgot the dramatic increase in standing charge, to make payment to creditors for the insolvency of failed suppliers. This is the only time I know of where the customer had to pay for debt of companies bankruptcy.
No, We must do everything we can to prevent natural cycles from functioning and instead condition the people to pay us for these so called global warming efforts
@@Dollie-f2c they dont do any maintenance or read any meters. I have electric only. They are JUST billing agents. They don't supply electricity or gas. They don't fix it if it breaks. 😆.
The roll-out of smart meters is set to cost £13.5 billion. It's the consumers who pay it through their bills.
Someone tell me that country supports an average citizen...🤔
America under Trump.
Unless they're actually rich, wheelchair users and such should be getting a mobility allowance, and people on dialysis and such should be getting some other benefit(s) (as well?) to help with their increased cost of living. So a slightly higher unit rate for energy shouldn't affect them too much.
A lower standing charge and slightly higher price per unit of energy used should benefit the most people - and all the nutter "Climate change is caused by human activities" nutters, should be very happy, as the more you consume/pollute, the more you pay.
And as others have said, if you don't shop in a particular store, or you don't catch the bus or train, on a particular day, they don't expect you to pay them something anyway just for the privilege of store being there to use. So the "Standing Charge" shouldn't even exist!
Is it really that hard to put a jumper on and turn the heating down by 1.2%?
Jumper won’t fit over the coat. Heat isn’t even on. House at nine degrees. What more do you want me to do? Still can’t afford to pay the bills that keep coming.
Well we arent say young and we felt affects of leaving heating off. Even our cat showed asthma symptoms. It will cost NHS more money if people are ill. Is this why elderly are given pneumonia jabs? I cant claim benefits after a stroke that gives me lacunae syndrome so we live on one pension. We are therefore not eligable for £300 money help. Also my ill Mom. … we have been told by her council her nursing home fee cash contribution is worked out by her having pension credit and attendance allowancenhigh rate. She doeant receive these. I have been claiming months. Its fun when you phone and they ask for security questions to be answered by your Mom when she is 1. Deaf 2. Confused and doesnt know if its night or day! So if you are really ill you cant give security answers as you are indeed too ill. How does that work! Then we will have to sell her house to pay for the balance of her home
I bet its to pay for all this Net Zero nonsense.
And the £13.5 billion smart meter roll-out.
I'm too busy trying to get hgv agency work to give a shit
I served in the army for many years where you didn't care and I still don't care
If your skint, pitch a tent and cook on a trangia cooker
Simple
Also go sea fishing from the shore to get a nice meal
Stevie in fife
I could not give a shit 🤣
Of course they are.