Energy Prices (Strictly NO referrals!)

jpaul said:
California had rolling blackouts in the summer ... all the best countries have them, well those that aren't self-disciplined like ze Germans,
maybe an emergency override on the price for those with smart meters will moderate usage.
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Summer is one thing winter quite another, oh but we have gas heating so we'll be fine! Except no you won't because the pump and thermostat etc require electrics. Last time we had national power cuts people still had coal fires I remember me mum sticking the sunday roast on top of it when the power went out as a small kid! Thats not going to happen these days.
 
@Allnamestaken
I hope you're not offended by me asking this, but are your bills based on estimated or actual readings? I only ask this, because there's a chance the bills are based on estimated readings and you might be paying over the odds - of course, it could work the other way and you might not be paying enough.

Are you on a smart meter? As they will automatically send readings to your supplier, who will use these (at least EDF do) to calculate your bills each month/quarter. For all people seem to hate smart meters, I genuinely like mine - other than the fact that my IHD doesn't see my gas supply or any of my tariff information right now. :o

Do you know what it causing your bill to be so high that you can't afford it? Do you have something like an immersion hot water tank on a timer, or storage heaters that heat up during peak times? I loathe either of these, as they just seem to suck money from people. Perhaps you feel the cold more than most and could benefit from extra insulation?

Again, sorry if I offend you. I don't know anything about you, so I am just guessing here.
 
darael said:
@Allnamestaken
I hope you're not offended by me asking this, but are your bills based on estimated or actual readings? I only ask this, because there's a chance the bills are based on estimated readings and you might be paying over the odds - of course, it could work the other way and you might not be paying enough.

Are you on a smart meter? As they will automatically send readings to your supplier, who will use these (at least EDF do) to calculate your bills each month/quarter. For all people seem to hate smart meters, I genuinely like mine - other than the fact that my IHD doesn't see my gas supply or any of my tariff information right now. :o

Do you know what it causing your bill to be so high that you can't afford it? Do you have something like an immersion hot water tank on a timer, or storage heaters that heat up during peak times? I loathe either of these, as they just seem to suck money from people. Perhaps you feel the cold more than most and could benefit from extra insulation?

Again, sorry if I offend you. I don't know anything about you, so I am just guessing here.
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No smart meter unfortunately, We were on estimates for a while previously but have started giving readings every month. We were apparently underpaying for a while last year so built up some arrears which are factored into the current direct debit they have been suggesting. I am over simplifying this as this was its own issue at the time after we were switched over to Eon and there was some miscommunication.

We have a tank which I believe is immersion, will double check sometimes I get these things crossed in my head. We have heaters around the house I think they are storage? They are electric. We do not use them however and have not turned them on at all so far this year, our flat is relatively well insulated for the most part and pretty cool during the summer so no need for AC and the like(Ground floor no direct sunlight).

We typically only use the heating during the winter minimally and I will be making some changes around the flat around windows and doors to minimise that usage this year.

In terms of our other bills though just for clarification, outside of 2 sim only contracts/home broadband/water/food/tv license/Car insurance/fuel(Low usage as work right next to where I live)/rent(low compared to anywhere in my city as my landlord is a godsend) we don't have much else. I have almost no debt just one loan payment a month with less than £600 remaining. We own our car/phones everything outright otherwise.

In terms of what we have in the house, I have one computer in the house (quite old now not spent money on this hobby of mine in years), one tv(almost never used). Mum has a tablet/phone. We only have an oven/hob/washing machine/fridge/toaster nothing fancy. No pets no miscellaneous products.

I wish we had a more efficient boiler/tank or something I'm sure that would be significant as I know immersion/storage are costly.

Also no offence taken, I hope the above helps there honestly isn't much I've missed out, its just been a chain of unfortunate events that have lead us into this situation.
 
Zenduri said:
Not at all whiney mate, everyone needs a bit of help from time to time. I'm idling on OCUK most of the day (on my PC not work laptop) while working so i'll respond pretty quickly normally.

The amount of friends, family and acquaintances that i've had conversations with about energy, the energy market, prices and fixing prices is beyond count now and its a daily occurance however it's a conversation worth engaging in due to the effects it's having on people both financially and mentally. Some of the stories I hear at work, from people who are customer facing, about the calls they are taking and the conversation they are having with customer is heartbreaking.
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Its demoralising, I'm just trying to make some progress somewhere in my life and its just being hoovered up at every step. Its depressing, I will earn more in future but nothing that helps in the short term. I just feel so hopeless as I imagine so many others do.
 
MadMossy said:
Reminds me when I went to my sisters once, she was in the living room ironing while the kids were running riot. Asked what she was ironing. She said socks and undies. WHY.....JUST WHY....... left the house and joined the kids that's too much serious for me!
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Ironing is for those who got nothing else better to do in their lives.

I do own an iron and last time I used it was 8 years ago
 
All that money on energy is going to kill the economy. Its not going to buy stuff or services or any related jobs.

When spending doubles on energy it doesn't double the number of people employed in the energy industry or its subcontractors. Its just money vanishing into a black hole of energy exporting countries or tax havens for the wealthy.

The older members of my family are all saying we're going back to how bad it was in the 1970s with the Winter of discontent.
 
banbom44 said:
Its going to be a crap Christmas for retail no one will be going mad with the spending because we will be all worried about having to pay our bills.
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Some people will likely go a bit mad on credit under the assumption it might be the last Christmas they can afford for awhile. IMO it will probably be the Christmas after next which will be most heavily impacted if things continue on the current trajectory.
 
Nasher said:
Octopus kept bumping my payments up to make sure I'm always deep in credit. So that they basically get a free loan to invest for themselves. I found a slightly cheaper deal though so am moving.
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I have never had Octopus put my DD in 2yrs and any credit I build up in 3 months I just withdraw for myself. Compared to others they much easier to sort and adjust with I have found from the 4 other suppliers I have been with.
 
It might change Christmas forever. I hate buying and getting bought tat at Christmas. Generally I've stopped. And people have got the message.

Maybe this will take some of the consumerism out of Christmas and people will spend time rather than money. And start to think... Hey, this is better.
 
413x said:
It might change Christmas forever. I hate buying and getting bought tat at Christmas. Generally I've stopped. And people have got the message.

Maybe this will take some of the consumerism out of Christmas and people will spend time rather than money. And start to think... Hey, this is better.
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One can hope, but unfortunately it seems rather more likely that the league of Karen can't countenance little timothy or charlotte can't possibly survive without their mountain of plastic that they use for about 5 minutes before it ends up in clogging up the closet or in the bin because it was destroyed due to poor construction. They will take out a massive line of credit even in the face of increasing interest rates because they know nothing else.

I pity those children that have that sort of parent... lost to the world before they can even speak.
 
10 Aug 2022 Greg Jackson, CEO of Octopus Energy, talks to Today business presenter Sean Farrington

load of BS from this guy, on one hand demanding more government support (to avoid them having difficulty collecting monies)

on the other ... when the svp is announced we THEN buy the energy ahead for our customers at that price .. like, it's a self fulfillng prophecy,
and they couldn't buy it further in advance at a lower (locked in) price and then provide it to customers at that lower rate.
The guy can't be that stupid, but only answers the questions that are put to him
 
jpaul said:
10 Aug 2022 Greg Jackson, CEO of Octopus Energy, talks to Today business presenter Sean Farrington

load of BS from this guy, on one hand demanding more government support (to avoid them having difficulty collecting monies)

on the other ... when the svp is announced we THEN buy the energy ahead for our customers at that price .. like, it's a self fulfillng prophecy,
and they couldn't buy it further in advance at a lower (locked in) price and then provide it to customers at that lower rate.
The guy can't be that stupid, but only answers the questions that are put to him
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To be fair, the guy is more than willing to allow a vast swathe of his customer base to commit fraud by claiming to have an EV to get on the "cheap offpeak rates" package and charge their battery storage on their house, so it shouldn't really be much of a surprise that he seems full of BS.
 
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