ENERGY MATTERS

[Stanley]

No Ian, not my way. I am getting close to getting them into line. The job isn't done until it's over!

[Big Kev]

Far more tolerant than me, I would have ditched them months ago and let a new supplier deal with their incompetence. I can think of more pleasurable ways to waste my time and certainly wouldn't be losing sleep over it.

[PanBiker]

That was my thoughts exactly Kev. When I swapped from BG my new supplier sorted out all the changeover totally seamlessly existing invoices included.

[Tripps]

Even Richard Branson knows when it's time to give up. Virgin Orbit and all he had was a launch "anomaly".

Or as Kenny Rogers once said Know when to fold 'em

[Stanley]

I am so touched by the way you all worry about me....
I shall continue to do it my way. My friend Peter at Ombudsman Services agrees as well. He is also attacking them. I think my entry in their database will be in red......

[PanBiker]

My friend Peter at Ombudsman Services agrees as well. He is also attacking them.

I would expect nothing less, it's his job.

[Big Kev]

I think my entry in their database will be in red......

To be honest I doubt they really care, you're still a customer and will be paying them money.

[Stanley]

That's the whole point of this exercise Kev. I haven't paid any money since January! I have a notification this morning that something has happened in accounts but their servers are down for maintenance at the moment. I shall have a look later....

[plaques]

Listening to the 'Money Saving Expert' the unit price should drop by 17%. but some standing charges may increase. Then something to watch for. For those on direct debit these may be very slow to be adjusted and customers could carry on at the old debit finishing up well in credit and having to 'remind' the company to adjust their direct debit.

[Tripps]

As usual - "Up like a rocket - down like a leaf"

[Stanley]

Ken, that's why I fought to get my account debited on the first day of the month for the amount of energy actually used the month before. I am convinced that part of the reason for the fact they have failed in their duty is that they don't like this model and want everyone on estimated payments.
By the way. One of the excuses they used was that my Direct Debit wasn't working. I rang the bank yesterday (HSBC) and checked with a very nice and efficient lady who told me that the DD is alive and well and ready to pay out the £544 BG should be asking for on June 7th. Tension mounts

[Tizer]

A bit too big for my back garden!...
`The 'exploding' demand for giant heat pumps' LINK

[Tripps]

Recall that a possibilty of Brexit was that UK would become the 'Singapore of Europe'. Be careful what you wish for.

I see many references to the possibility that we may be the first and last generation to have personal access to private motor transport.

Is this the way things will go? First you apply for a (10 year) Certificate of Entitlement from your friendly Government. That costs about £50,000 +. then a duty is applied equal to the value of the car. It's downhill from there. Motoring

I find also that 90 % of the population live in 'council houses' and their location is determined by the Government, not the tenant in order to avoid Chinese, Indian, Malay racial ghettos.

Brave New World. I want none of it. . . .

[Stanley]

Hear hear David. It's very easy to sniff the air and imagine you smell fascism and bingo, another conspiracy theory emerges. However, we have enough concrete evidence to be sure that we are now getting more than a drift to the Right. I see too many parallels with what happened in Germany in the 1930s.
Before you poo-poo this, show me what the difference is between the concentration camps and the likes of Braverman's barge storage of unwanted migrants or using minimal standard accommodation at old military bases.
Sorry, but I have read too much history.
The excuse then was the need to preserve the 'purity' of the German race and there were plenty of people here who supported this call under the banner of eugenics. Go back and read the history, David is quite right to be concerned.

[Tizer]

As usual the news media turn even the good news into bad! The truth is we are making progress in developing recycling methods for old solar panels, recovering rare metals instead of raping the Earth to get them and making new panels from the product...
`Solar panels - an eco-disaster waiting to happen?' LINK
Here's a bit of the good news extracted from the article: It is hoped a major step will be taken at the end of June, when the world's first factory dedicated to fully recycling solar panels officially opens in France. ROSI, the specialist solar recycling company which owns the facility, in the Alpine city of Grenoble, hopes eventually to be able to extract and re-use 99% of a unit's components. As well as recycling the glass fronts and aluminium frames, the new factory can recover nearly all of the precious materials contained within the panels, such as silver and copper, which are typically some of the hardest materials to extract. These rare materials can subsequently be recycled and reused to make new, more powerful, solar units.

[Stanley]

The good news is that British Gas have raised the second bill, the one for the month of May. Neither has been taken out of the DD. That should happen any day now......

[Tizer]

This should be a great benefit. I particularly like the image of the warm effluent going into a cold river...
`HotSat-1: Spacecraft to map UK's heat inefficient buildings' LINK

[Big Kev]

The good news is that British Gas have raised the second bill, the one for the month of May. Neither has been taken out of the DD. That should happen any day now......

Did it?

[Stanley]

Not due until the 15th Kev. I think they are making sure I have plenty of time to make sure there is £649 in the account! Sounds a lot but it's for all charges between January 8th and June 1st so it's actually quite reasonable.

[Tripps]

Not due until the 15th Kev.

Well that date has been and gone. I'm getting very tense - please tell us it's all over.

[Stanley]

You can relax David. I have just written to Peter at Ombudsman services to let him know that BG have taken two payments from the Direct Debit account they said was not working. One of £544-00 on June 7 and one yesterday for £104-92 for energy used from January 3 to June 1. Now I want to see them take the regular monthly payment on July 1. If and when they do that I think we can say they are on track.
To save you working it out, that's £648.92 for 6 months energy charges. That works out at £108.16 a month.
I don't feel badly done to. That could have been a lot worse in the circumstances. The main thing however is that I am now not in debt to BG beyond the current month's charges.

[Tripps]

That works out at £108.16 a month.

For these unusual times- that seems pretty good. Well done for your persistence - I'd have bailed out long ago. Good luck that there will be no further problems.

[Stanley]

Thanks David. That's why I am hanging fire on celebrating until I see the monthly variable direct debit payment becoming a boring but efficient detail of my life.

[Tripps]

I get an email alert from google every Friday night at 11.00 pm which contains a digest of news from an Asian region that in which I have an interest. You can do that you know- it's one of the a benefits of globalisation.Yesterday's contained the news that the electricity supply was now stable after five years of investment and the price of a kWh converted to 15.8 pence.

I belioeve that's about less than half the price I currently pay.

Previous alerts had said that a new power station was being built by the Chinese and would be fuelled by locally mined coal.


Consider our suicidal quest for Net Zero, then reach whatever conclusion you wish. . . . .

[Stanley]

I don't pretend to be expert enough to judge on these matters David but I agree with you about the surcharges we are paying to satisfy government targets. Doubling the price of electricity under this efficient privatised system seems about right and is only a benefit if you are an investor and drawing a dividend. The losers as always are the poor bloody infantry.....