Energy bill increases

[Brandane]

npower is now E.ON

Are they still incompetent morons who think you want to bank with them, rather than just buy energy?

 

[Arrowfoot]

Enron once a respected US energy giant, entered the then newly deregulated US energy market and bet huge on price movements in the 1990s. It bet wrong and the eventually carried out fraudulent accounting. 3 years later it collapsed and took well known accounting and audit giant Arthur Andersen with it.

Yet they insist on deregulating this important sector knowing some will go to the wall and one has already collapsed.

 

[Tenkaykev]

E.ON is now German owned, Scottish Power is now Spanish owned. EDF is French owned. So the profits that would once have gone back into the UK economy is now helping to subsidise utility bills elsewhere. That’s much like the Rail infrastructure which now receives three times the government subsidies in real terms than British Rail did. As promised by the politicians at the time, privatisation has worked to the advantage of the customer with the market bringing us some of the lowest priced energy and rail fares in Europe. Oh, hang on a minute…
https://www.uswitch.com/gas-electricity/guides/which-energy-suppliers-are-british/

 

[mjr]

It’s all closely linked , not helped by 5 Nuclear Power Stations going offline in France and the cable fire in Kent.
It’s like we don’t generate enough electricity in this country . Whats happened to our own power industry?

I feel that effectively banning or at least discouraging a load of on-shore renewables and microgeneration, combined with understandable dithering on nuclear and bizarre incentives to bring old gas generation stations back online (which now looks like it was a bad idea as gas prices rise), has left the UK in a rather weak position.

After the recent collapse of the passenger train "market", another of the dodgy markets from the Thatcher-Lawson Agenda is failing. Will they take the same solution and start a Great British Energy service? Can gov.uk afford to? And which 1980s/90s market will collapse next?

 

[MrGrumpy]

E.ON is now German owned, Scottish Power is now Spanish owned. EDF is French owned. So the profits that would once have gone back into the UK economy is now helping to subsidise utility bills elsewhere. That’s much like the Rail infrastructure which now receives three times the government subsidies in real terms than British Rail did. As promised by the politicians at the time, privatisation has worked to the advantage of the customer with the market bringing us some of the lowest priced energy and rail fares in Europe. Oh, hang on a minute…
https://www.uswitch.com/gas-electricity/guides/which-energy-suppliers-are-british/

Yep back in the days where they sold of every bleeding thing! Privatised to stimulate competition?? My @rse !!

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I was with GNE - got switched to EDF when GNE went bust.
The deal with EDF was great -- if anything slightly better than with GNE - but it ends soon
I was previously with Bulb and then Octopus and I was very impressed with both of them. I have looked at switching back to them but the prices were a lot higher than the one EDF offered
And then this thing comes along saying the smaller companies could go bust - in which case I would worry about getting given to one of the dodgier companies - and also getting dumped onto a very ungreen tarriff - at least the EDF one is zero carbon evenif a lot of it is Nuclear.

SO I'm staying on EDF until the fixed thing runs out and see what is available then

 

[classic33]

It's the fault of the customers.
"One suggestion is for the formation of a “bad bank” which would take on lossmaking customers from failed suppliers, in a move reminiscent of the peak of the financial crisis in 2008, and which would be designed to avoid weakening otherwise strong companies."
https://www.irishtimes.com/business...ment-bad-bank-to-weather-gas-crisis-1.4678235

 

[Electric_Andy]

I was with Utility Point, and was something like £180 in credit. I had an e-mail from them to say they have ceased trading. I then got an e-mail from "we look after your bills" who said they'll switch me to the best deal as soon as possible but my supply will not be cut off. I just hope that my credit is still transferable to the new supplier (which WLAYB said it would be).

 

[Electric_Andy]

I was with Utility Point, and was something like £180 in credit. I had an e-mail from them to say they have ceased trading. I then got an e-mail from "we look after your bills" who said they'll switch me to the best deal as soon as possible but my supply will not be cut off. I just hope that my credit is still transferable to the new supplier (which WLAYB said it would be).

Saying that, I think I should have cashed in my credit when the contract re-newed again. So at least it would have been in my bank than in there's

 

[Electric_Andy]

Saying that, I think I should have cashed in my credit when the contract re-newed again. So at least it would have been in my bank than in there's

ok, for anyone in the same situation, I've just checked and ofgem have said my balance (credit) will be protected. EDF are taking over Utility Point customers so I will be transferred to them and retain my balance

 

[Dolorous Edd]

E.ON is now German owned, Scottish Power is now Spanish owned. EDF is French owned. So the profits that would once have gone back into the UK economy is now helping to subsidise utility bills elsewhere. That’s much like the Rail infrastructure which now receives three times the government subsidies in real terms than British Rail did.

Rail infrastructure has been owned and run by the UK government since 2002

 

[presta]

This doesn't look particularly reassuring:

The Energy Current - key insights into GB and European power markets (lcp.uk.com)

 

[Milkfloat]

I'm guessing you've never run a company, if you think that "just" going bust is a desirable outcome.

Quite a few companies are run this way - get what you can out of it and walk away when your scheme collapses, not just in the small scale, but hedge funds do very similar, albeit leaving another company to actually go through the collapse.

 

[Milkfloat]

By losing out they mean that if you are in credit then that credit is not lost.

No I mean the terms of the deal you are on - as I understand it you get moved to the standard tariff of the new supplier.

 

[mjr]

Rail infrastructure has been owned and run by the UK government since 2002

Also, Crossrail and HS2 distort the picture compared with the five pre-privatisation years to 1992 where I think the biggest projects were Thameslink — more a reopening than new construction — and some electrification and modernisation works on existing lines.