ENERGY MATTERS

[Big Kev]

Octopus Energy will pay nearly £3bn to the government as part of a pledge to return the taxpayers' funds it received for rescuing Bulb, its collapsed competitor.

It means the Treasury will recoup almost all the cost of temporarily nationalising Bulb back in 2021.

Can the government be trusted with it though?

[Stanley]

That's anybody's guess Kev. I think you are correct to doubt them.
BG have asked for meter readings, it looks as though this is the new way they are managing accounts. They did the same last month and it worked so I shall cooperate with them.

[Stanley]

I sent the readings in earlier this morning and I have just printed out the statement for 22 May to 22 of June. £90.
That's an improvement in response......

[Big Kev]

The saga of my neighbour's EV charger continues. On Monday the road was closed to install the additional cable for a new meter point, a team turned up to dig some holes. On Tuesday a team turned up to lay some cable. On Wednesday nothing happened. On Thursday a team turned up to fill in the holes. Today, Friday, a team turned up to reinstate the tarmac on the road. This may all sound positive but...
The new cable requires 'jointing' at either end, this requires a bit of digging, to get to the bits that need jointing, as the holes have all been filled in. A new meter can't be installed as no one was scheduled to fit a meter cabinet so it's all on hold again...

Electricity North West contractors came on Friday (July 4th) and dug some holes where the road had been reinstated. On Monday (July 8th) the cable jointers came and connected it all, my neighbour now has a secondary electric meter in a metal box in his back garden. He is now awaiting Octopus Energy to come and hook up his EV charger to the new meter, this will give him the 7kW charge rate he originally paid for.
There's a lot involved having an EV charger installed, I think I'll stick with my ULEZ compliant diesel...

[Stanley]

Reading that saga Kev is yet another evidence for me that I did right to kick my car and licences into touch..... Anyone who can do without a car should do it! Actually I think that's the way the government will get the number of cars on the road down, make it too expensive and difficult to be a car-owner.
As I have said so many times, I saw the glory days of driving and our roads. It was good but is now ancient history!

[Tizer]

The saga of my neighbour's EV charger continues. On Monday the road was closed to install the additional cable for a new meter point, a team turned up to dig some holes. On Tuesday a team turned up to lay some cable. On Wednesday nothing happened. On Thursday a team turned up to fill in the holes. Today, Friday, a team turned up to reinstate the tarmac on the road. This may all sound positive but...
The new cable requires 'jointing' at either end, this requires a bit of digging, to get to the bits that need jointing, as the holes have all been filled in. A new meter can't be installed as no one was scheduled to fit a meter cabinet so it's all on hold again...

Electricity North West contractors came on Friday (July 4th) and dug some holes where the road had been reinstated. On Monday (July 8th) the cable jointers came and connected it all, my neighbour now has a secondary electric meter in a metal box in his back garden. He is now awaiting Octopus Energy to come and hook up his EV charger to the new meter, this will give him the 7kW charge rate he originally paid for.
There's a lot involved having an EV charger installed, I think I'll stick with my ULEZ compliant diesel...

Sadly, Kev, all that could probably be considered a metaphor describing Britain's productivity problem. We're suffering a plague of poor planning and bad management.

[Stanley]

Exactly Peter.... Somebody was sat at HQ with a Critical Path Analysis app on his or her phone and followed all the instructions. Gone are the days when they sent out a van with two blokes, a lump of tarmac and some tools and they had the skills to do all that was needed, pop to the pub for a pint at dinner time and be home in time for tea with the job done and dusted.
They call the modern version efficient........

[Stanley]

Energy cost 22 June to 22 July..... £72.15. (Total gas £13; the rest was leccy.)

[Big Kev]

My neighbour's EV charger saga continues. An engineer from Octopus arrived promptly at 8am today, unfortunately he didn't really know how to tackle the job. At 9am a second engineer arrived and now they're both sat looking at the new meter cabinet. Hopefully they can work it out between them.

[Stanley]

I wonder what sort of training some of the present crop get when I watch them working.... It's an education at the moment watching the contractors working on the new bar in the Majestic Building......

[Tizer]

Ann Treneman writing in The Times on Saturday related how her report to the water company about the meter in her garden springing a leak and flooding her garden resulted in five visits all on different days, and by different employees. 1st to verify there was a leak, 2nd to delve into the mud and expose the meter, 3rd to sort the leak, 4th to cover the meter and refill with soil etc, 5th to finish off with cement, tarmac etc. No wonder Britain is way down the productivity league. And of course they all had vans, burning diesel, polluting the atmosphere, emitting CO2 on their multiple journeys. She hopes it never leaks again!

[Big Kev]

They're still at it and another complication has arisen. The meter, fitted by ElectricityNW, isn't smart so once the charger is installed he won't benefit from the reduced rate for charging (he's currently on the phone to Octopus). You couldn't make it up

[Mags]

Living in a sunny climate (even on the odd day the sun doesn't shine we still generate power) we have solar panels as do many of my neighbours, this year we have been inundated with visitors - aircon running full time for the first 4 months of this year (it is evaporative nor reverse cycle, therefore cheaper to run) we have had fans running in bedrooms etc etc. Plus for my work I have 3 computers running most of the day, extra screens etc

I have only paid 2 or 3 electric bills in the last 7 yearsl, I am not complaining........ but I cannot believe that some of my neighbours are still getting $400 plus electric bills when they have the same size system as ours. Some of them are getting more per KWH for energy put back into the grid than our $0.07c/KWH.

Our biggest cost is water..........it is a challenge to educate visitors to turn off the tap whilst you actually brush your teeth and to take shorter showers

[Stanley]

"I have only paid 2 or 3 electric bills in the last 7 years,"
Well done Margaret! I wish I could say the same....
Kev, I agree, it's a pantomime..... The man must be wondering if having an electric car is worth the hassle!
As for Smart Meters.... It seems to me that British Gas have bitten the bullet, admitted that smart meters don't work and have settled in to a routine of asking me to read my meters once a month. This is working perfectly and I for one am very pleased with it!

[Big Kev]

An interesting development. My neighbour now has two electric meters, one for 'indoor use' and one for the EV charger. Octopus told him he would have to pay two standing charges, one for each meter. This didn't sound right to me, firstly because it's not his problem the infrastructure isn't in place and secondly I was sure they could only charge per account (both meters are on the same account).
I did a bit of digging and I am correct, I found this from 2021
Ofgem has concluded compliance engagement with four suppliers in relation to Standard Licence Condition (“SLC”) 22G. This requires all suppliers with more than 50,000 customers (“Relevant Suppliers”) to offer Relevant Tariffs1 to customers with Restricted Meter Infrastructure2 (RMI) upon request, without charging multiple standing charges if a customer has multiple meters.

His contact, at Octopus, will choke on his coffee and biscuits this afternoon

[Stanley]

"His contact, at Octopus, will choke on his coffee and biscuits this afternoon"
I hope you're right Kev!
I also think he has a case against Octopus for the fact that they didn't tell him about these difficulties when he first enquired about the supply. From what you have said, there has been incompetence at every level.
I have a question.... If I have smart meters that don't work, have I got restricted Meter Infrastructure?

[Big Kev]

I have a question.... If I have smart meters that don't work, have I got restricted Meter Infrastructure?

Unfortunately not

[Stanley]

Ah well..... worth asking. Thanks Kev.
(That means I can't make a claim for a lower rate then.)

[Big Kev]

Ah well..... worth asking. Thanks Kev.
(That means I can't make a claim for a lower rate then.)

Nay

[Stanley]

Bugger.....

[Big Kev]

The EV charger saga continues, Octopus are unable to fit a smart meter in the outside box ( I don't have the details why)...

[Stanley]

From the Shell advertisement at present running on TV you'd think it was easy installing EV meters.....
Talking about advertising. Can anyone explain to me why EDF are advertising themselves to the British public?
I think I have answered my own question, see THIS. They have thrown money at a new advertising agency.
A prime example of why we should never have privatised the commanding heights of the economy!

[Tripps]

My big lad tells me he has taken delivery of his new EV the BYD Seal.

He got one quickly from stock, and he is raving about it. He says it's far and away the best car he's ever had in terms of comfort, performance and economy, and he's had some good quality ones from BMW and Skoda for example. .

He got a local electrician to fit an external charger outside his front door, which he did in a morning without any problems. The range is said to be well over 300 miles so no anxiety?

The cost is still way outside my budget, and I'm perfectly happy with my diesel saloon, but we'll see how it goes.

[Big Kev]

Nice looking car, way outside my budget too. I would also have the same issue, as my neighbour, with a charger installation. Like you, I will stick with my 8 year old ULEZ compliant diesel SUV

[Stanley]

If I was still a motorist I'd do the same. I have watched simple mechanisms (Like the Ford 8 or the Austin Ruby) get increasingly complicated and expensive for over 80 years now and think the modern diesels (Without computers!) Like the Ford Escort van I had were the pinnacle of design.
I have a suspicion that the current developments in design and consequent expense are as much about cutting down on the numbers of car owners as anything else. We have far too many vehicles on our roads and can't build our way out of the problem.