ENERGY MATTERS

[Tizer]

If it's anything like Bristol it's good you sent it by email - rats are eating the mail left outside Bristol Mail centre...
`Royal Mail parcels and letters piling up at Bristol Mail Centre' Bristol Post

[Stanley]

Interesting that I have never been offered this email address on the website. Why do they keep such things secret?
I would suggest a law that makes every commercial entity to have an email address that is actually monitored and allows you to send attachments. This sounds obvious but is very rare these days....

[Big Kev]

Interesting that I have never been offered this email address on the website. Why do they keep such things secret?
I would suggest a law that makes every commercial entity to have an email address that is actually monitored and allows you to send attachments. This sounds obvious but is very rare these days....

Which address are you using?

[Tizer]

Interesting that I have never been offered this email address on the website. Why do they keep such things secret?
I would suggest a law that makes every commercial entity to have an email address that is actually monitored and allows you to send attachments. This sounds obvious but is very rare these days....

Which address are you using?

He can't tell you Kev or they'll kill him!

[Big Kev]

Interesting that I have never been offered this email address on the website. Why do they keep such things secret?
I would suggest a law that makes every commercial entity to have an email address that is actually monitored and allows you to send attachments. This sounds obvious but is very rare these days....

Which address are you using?

He can't tell you Kev or they'll kill him!

[Stanley]

I'll risk it Kev....
email us at complaintsmanagement@britishgas.co.uk

[Big Kev]

I'll risk it Kev....
email us at complaintsmanagement@britishgas.co.uk

Certainly one worth highlighting for BG customers. My neighbour has just managed to book an engineer visit with his provider. His electric meter isn't sending readings. He's been trying to get it fixed for months, a bit of inside information gave him the correct terminology to report the fault, the engineer is booked for early January.

[Stanley]

Nobody has said anything concrete to me yet. I suppose everything goes on hold now until after Xmas.
Worth pointing out that the way I got their attention in the end was to write to them and send the message snail mail. This produced the reply that was in effect a deadlock letter and that's how I got to the Ombudsman.

[Big Kev]

Octopus completed the purchase of Bulb Energy last night. It'll take a few months but all the meters will be migrated to the Octopus software platform. The current support team seem to be OK for now.

[Stanley]

The position with the Ombudsman is that they have accepted my case but cannot act until a certain time has elapsed. This means the end of the first week in February.... So all is on hold until then.

[plaques]

Octopus completed the purchase of Bulb Energy last night. It'll take a few months but all the meters will be migrated to the Octopus software platform. The current support team seem to be OK for now.

This takeover is looking a bit suspect. The government has already handed over £1.2Billion to support Bulb now they are offering £4.5Billion to Octopus as support for the interim takeover period. (dependent on future prices). The Office for Budget Responsibility thinks this could reach £6.5Billion.

Too big to fail and shades of Matt Hancock spring to mind.

[Stanley]

It turns Economics as I understand it on its head!

[Pluggy]

Over time, I've moved away from thinking that private companies selling us energy is a good idea. Back in the day Maggie sold us something that already belonged to us and we swallowed it, fast forward 35+ years and the stability, predictability and control of public ownership is something we need back. Particularly now as wild energy prices are forcing all the companies to move onto short term "make it up as you go" pricing. Maybe this should go in the politics thread.......

[plaques]

Over time, I've moved away from thinking that private companies selling us energy is a good idea. Back in the day Maggie sold us something that already belonged to us and we swallowed it, fast forward 35+ years and the stability, predictability and control of public ownership is something we need back. Particularly now as wild energy prices are forcing all the companies to move onto short term "make it up as you go" pricing. Maybe this should go in the politics thread.......

I pondered the best place to put my next piece, so here goes.

Energy has now become one of the dominant costs in everybody's lives. We all know that the war in Ukraine has led Russia to ramp up the oil and gas prices throughout Europe and across the world. The EU have introduced energy saving rules and advertising plus windfall taxes and in France's case re-nationalisation. Meanwhile the UK has relied on market forces, ie; high prices, to reduce demand. The price cap being a loan to be paid back later. This has left the UK with the highest energy prices in the world.

Energy UK,.1.jpg

Next April is set to see even higher prices with prices set to triple through 2023. all we hear from the government is that they will address the problem when it comes. So is energy price inflation set to stay?

Energy Bill Forecast..jpg

The EU is already looking ahead at next years supply of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) just in case the Russian piped supply dries up completely. The proposal is a price cap on LNG to stop runaway price rises. Getting an agreement on this may be impossible. Again the UK is in the background taking no action letting private companies screw the population with even more energy costs.
The chart below shows the main players in LNG with the UK (other) an exporter of gas.
.

Energy UK,.2.jpg

[Stanley]

Reply to both of you... You are right to doubt the Market Stephen and as usual Ken lays out the facts clearly.
I think you know where I stand. Not for nationalisation necessarily but for public control of what Nye Bevan called the commanding heights of the economy. None of these should be the subject of management for profit. Dividends taken out of such businesses directly affect the retail price. In this case the gas we are using isn't costing more it's simply that The Market has seen a chance to make more profit and so they make staggering profits whilst we cannot afford to live.
As things stand at the moment the money is going to be sucked out of society and end up in the clouds somewhere. We are all eventually going to be poverty stricken. We are seeing one effect in the wage levels being demanded in the current public service strikes but in the long run higher wages isn't the answer, it is rational trading. That will never happen under The Market.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC account of the report issued by Citizen's advice about people on prepayment meters being deprived of power because they were unable to pay.
"Citizens Advice has called for a ban on energy companies "forcing" customers onto prepayment meters because they are struggling to pay bills. The charity estimates that 600,000 people were put onto the pay-as-you-go method last year, with 160,000 more expected by the end of the winter. Some have meters installed, while others have smart meters automatically switched to prepayment mode. Last year, regulator Ofgem wrote to suppliers about the issue.
A government spokesman said it expected energy suppliers to do all they can to help customers who are struggling to pay their bills. "Suppliers can only install prepayment meters without consent to recover debt as a last resort," he said.
This method of cutting people off from the supply is of course self-initiated by the householder and doesn't involve the supply company being stigmatised. This is the underhand truth that really bugs me and it is this I want to see stopped.

[Tizer]

Whatever could go wrong?...
`Decision looms on future of Britishvolt gigafactory' LINK
`Shareholders are due to vote on competing bids for the planned Britishvolt battery factory in Northumberland. The result will decide the future of the troubled site, intended to produce battery packs for electric cars. It was once touted by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson as a key part of his green industrial revolution. There are two competing bids for the project, which came close to going into administration in 2022....The first comes from a consortium led by DeaLab group, a company owned by a little-known Indonesian banker. The second has been put forward by a group of existing shareholders.'

[Stanley]

A nasty thought occurred to me this morning and I have raised it with Resolver.
A thought occurred to me today which is that I suspect the government subsidy payments have been applied to the spurious account. This needs to be examined when finally the accounts are verified.
Roll on February when I can set the Ombudsman on these shysters!

[Stanley]

I have had a very unsatisfactory conversation with a man at British Gas who basically blames everything on the system and the fact my gas meter isn't reporting.
I have made one step forward. He has given me an appointment for new meters to be fitted and connected to the system. Jan 23 between 10 and 2. Once the meters are updated and connected he will get back to me.
I told him that the last time this happened the connection failed and what would happen if it happened again. He refused to entertain the possibility.
I shall have to wait now and see what happens.... This might be progress....

[Big Kev]

There is always the possibility the meters are faulty, more likely they weren't installed and commissioned properly.

[Stanley]

I shall wait and see what happens Kev and not speculate. I am beyond that, what I want to see is concrete progress.

[Stanley]

Now I am back on the system and booked in for yet another meter replacement I am getting the full flood of emails from the PR department of British Gas. Their system is excellent at churning these out (All no-reply mailboxes) but not very good at face to face contact.
{Message to I think it is Ian and Kev, when I have got this lot sorted in about a month or two I shall be in the market for a change to Octopus (If they'll have me!) So decide between you who is going to get the £50 reward. I think I have that right.

[Big Kev]

It's not me, I'm with Eon Next

[Stanley]

Right! I wasn't sure. It looks as though Ian will be spot ball when the time comes....

[Tripps]

Well who would have thought it. Well me for a start actually. . . .

Carbon offsets