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shropshiregirl
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shropshiregirl is offline
Shropshire
Joined: Jun 2013
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shropshiregirl is female  shropshiregirl has posted at least 25 times and has been a member for 3 months or more 
 
28-02-2019, 03:37 PM
1

State Sponsored Highway Robbery!

Hi all, really annoyed about this, and I am going to have a rant!

HWMO says my stubborn streak is my own fault for not switching Energy supplier over the years when he said we should. But you know how it is. We have been with our Electricity supplier for over 45 years and I hate change, especially when one hears of the many difficulties customers have experienced when changing their supplier. So it was always a case of “better the devil you know”. Not any more though. I fully intend to start shopping around for the best deal, scary as the thought is, especially as a lot of these energy firms offering tempting deals are in danger of going bust after winter. I could well end up choosing a supplier, it goes bust, and we end up on a replacement energy supplier not of our choosing, on a default tariff at the most expensive rate.

When we first bought our home all those years ago, there was already a pre-payment electricity meter installed. Great!, I thought, we’ll keep that, no Electricity bill, just buy as we use it.(mind you, bills were so much cheaper then). So over 40 years ago we used to buy £20 of Electricity every Monday, which did us fine until the following week. Of course, I knew that we always paid more than those not on a pre-payment meter, but I stubbornly thought “At least I will never receive an electricity bill”.
Now, many years later. That price has of course doubled and we buy £50 each week over the winter period and by the time spring/summer arrives, we are always in credit and that does us fine. Our Gas supplier, is paid quarterly by DD.

Anyway, I was really pleased at the end of last year to learn that OFGEN had placed a price cap on energy suppliers supplying electricity to prepayment customers (now known as pay-as-you-go) and was to commence 1st January 2019. This would be reviewed every SIX MONTHS. Very good. Something in the customers’ favour for a change.

Then, before the ink on their desks were flippin dry, customers were THEN informed by OFGEN that because fuel prices had risen, they were going to raise the price cap for energy companies to take wholesale fuel rises into account. (correct me if I am wrong, but 1st Jan to 1st April in anyone's book is three months, not six!!)

Today, we received a notification stating that they are increasing my price on 1st April 2019 but not above the price cap) I looked at how much extra we would be paying and my jaw dropped. It’s an extra £209 per annum! (£17.42 per month). So much for OFGEN and it’s six monthly review.

Old Annual account details

Tariff - Standard Payment Method - Pay As You Go.

Current annual cost £1,729 New annual cost £1,938 Increase in Cost £209.

(This is based on previous 12 months energy usage)

Now I appreciate that as pensioners,and being just the two of us now, we have £200 per annum towards energy bills, and we are most grateful for that, also for the fact that we are fortunate to be able to afford to pay the extra.

But how in God’s name are vulnerable people such as pensioners on a fixed income and those on benefits able to afford such a price hike???? And how can a government allow such a rise to fall on those who are least able to afford it?

OFGEN are absolutely useless and has no teeth. They seem to be full of concern that the energy companies have seen wholesale fuel charges rise and bending over backwards to accommodate them. What about the dozens of times energy prices have tumbled? where was the concern for customers paying too much?

Do you agree?
swimfeeders
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Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 24,056
swimfeeders is male  swimfeeders has posted at least 25 times and has been a member for 3 months or more 
 
28-02-2019, 07:25 PM
2

Re: State Sponsored Highway Robbery!

Hi

Swap, I have.

I have a 2 year Fixed Price Contract, started last August when I moved in to my new house, expensive at the time, but already paying savings.

My aquarium costs me 50p an hour to run,my extravagance, I could not do without it.
Realist
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Realist is offline
UK
Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 9,184
Realist is male  Realist has posted at least 25 times and has been a member for 3 months or more 
 
01-03-2019, 11:17 AM
3

Re: State Sponsored Highway Robbery!

At the end of the day the supplier is essentially the same. The electricity comes from the grid no matter which "provider" you choose to go with. So it's all just a commodities market where providers buy energy from the primary energy controller and then sell that energy on to you for a profit.

It's a bit like internet was when it first started. You had a small choice of Internet Providers (ISPs) but the reality was they were all still using BT's lines and cables and switch boxes etc. So in reality we were all still using BT internet, it's just that it was being fronted by different ISPs.

Today there is more infrastructure. More companies have laid their own cables like Virgin etc.

Energy is a problem because our country has been sold down the river to foreign moguls. Bribes, covert deals etc etc. So now we all pay through the nose for energy. Those foreign moguls currently have us by the short and curlies.

No point complaining. It's what happens when people don't collectively cherish and value their own country and its people. Like buying cheap imported products instead of supporting British businesses.

The UK needs to become self sufficient. People need to realist what that actually means. It means we have to stop fannying about opposing Shale Gas Fracking and oil drilling. We need to get fracking as much as possible as we are sat on ENORMOUS pockets of valuable fuel. Enough to see the UK served for 50+ years just in the Humber.

We could actually sell some of that fuel to France and other countries who need it.

I will finish off by highlighting one further thing. If people think these recent price hikes are significant then they need to wake up because those prices are going to double or triple in the future once enough SMART METERS have been rolled out.

As soon as VARIABLE RATE BILLING comes in and they start charging premium rates for peak times (afternoon/evening when most need to use energy) then people will weep.

Those that were naive, ignorant, foolish and accepted a Smart Meter will pay the price and pay VERY dearly.

Those who sensibly refused a Smart Meter will be billed as now, one energy unit at a time, regardless of the time of day they used it. Yes, they will also see price hikes but they will not be saddled with variable rate billing.

Now is the time to try and get off the grid if you can.

Solar/Photoelectrics on the roof

Ground source heating

The clock is ticking and these devastating price changes are coming down the line no question. Variable Rate Billing is going to earn the energy companies $BILLIONS. All at our expense. The Smart Meter is the device that enables Variable Rate Billing to go ahead. Without a Smart Meter they can not implement it, simple as.

Tick tock.
 

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