^Next week Ofgem will announce the energy price cap rise^.

I'm sure the energy companies could absorb some of the increased costs after all they are making vast profits

Zoe, that's your opinion, but it isn't mine.
This government is despicable. Look at the number of Tory MPs who would not support an amendment about prevention of water companies pouring out sewage on beaches.Look at the number of Ministers who are out of their depth. Their government was initially based on lies about Brevxit. Promises were made which they knew couldn't be kept. ?during Covid contracts were handed out to mates and so on and so on.~Despicable is a good description.

I keep hearing that they will protect the most vulnerable and, of course, they must be given help but with the size of these increases, this will impact all households. Most households will struggle, not just the most vulnerable!

I have a feeling we are all being softened up for a distinct improvement before the ordure hits the fan. Necessity is the mother of invention and many bright sparks are already working on this problem so it is likely something will turn up.

We must, however, put the blame where it is due. Putin's invasion of Ukraine and the Chinese Covid Lockdown causing a run on the world fuel market are responsible for most of this fuel chaos. The rush to Net Zero and the green agenda have made it much more difficult and more slow to respond to the crisis.

Plus a government which thinks it's more important shareholders to receive dividends .
What other countries have ( ,we aren't the only one to suffer from Putin, Covid etc), these sky high caps ?

So. To put the blame where its due...

The UK fuel market is more dependent on natural gas for its energy needs than, for example, the EU, and our storage capacity is not adequate. The EU has a large and interconnected energy market which makes it more stable than the UK's. Continental energy price rises have been up to 40% less than the UK's, even though at first sight they are more dependent on Russian gas.

Putin's invasion of the Ukraine has a peripheral impact, at best. Had we "rushed" a bit more to Net Zero we would not have been so reliant on natural gas and we would have had more flexibility.

Guess what? We've shot ourselves in the foot by not co-operating with the EU and by pretending there's no Global Warming crisis. You couldn't make it up. Not a lot of evidence of "bright sparks", not that I can see.

The people of this country are being thrown to the wolves. I am not sure who has the intellectual capacity to lead us out of this disaster - certainly none of the current self-centered lot.

This idea that nothing can happen until we have a new PM in place is just rubbish. We do not have a presidential system and we should have a functioning government whatever is happening to the office of PM. It appears that they are not bothered about what is happening to the country, or perhaps they just don't have a clue what to do and are doing headless chicken impressions.

I thought wrongly about Ritchie Sunak. I thought he could be trusted but after listening to him on radio 2 today, blowing his own trumpet and being so big headed, I've completely changed my mind. I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him.

Truss is playing a game to get elected by the blue rinses. Once she gets in she will go for a few well publicised handouts and hope that will buy her the next General Election. After that she will be keeping the paupers down.

Shinamae

Whitewavemark2

Sunday Telegraph saying it will rise to £6000 in April next year.

“They” can say what they want, I will not be paying any more than what I can actually afford and will bear whatever consequences this brings to my door… I think if you do pay what you can AFFORD that they cannot come down on you too heavily but time will tell…

How I wish this were true, but I do not believe it is.

Whatever utilitiy you use, you have to pay the actual cost of the number of units you use plus the various taxes and any other charges involved.

The only way you could possibly only pay what you actually can afford is by working out how many units of electriciy or heating you can afford and making sure that that is all you actually use.

With prices as they are, I am afraid that doing this will mean living in a stone cold house all winter, or alternatively, having heating on, but only one small electric lamp on at a time - no tv etc.

Our utility companies are not putting up their prices just to earn more money or to annoy us. They are having to pay more for the raw product they buy, plus more for turning it into the product they sell us. So if you only pay what you can afford, but are using more than that, you basically are defrauding the company.

This can never be legal, and if we all do it, will lead to a great many utility suppliers going bankrupt.

What you could do, is to try to negotiate an agreement with the supplier along the lines of your paying a flat rate to cover your minimum needs and paying usage over and above that in installments.

I have no idea whether they will agree to this kind of arrangement, but doing so would probably be in their interest as you are basically acknowleging that you owe them money that you are trying hard to pay off.

I agree that almost anyone could do better than this lot. Any government would have paid furlough money , perhaps a bit more fairly, and wouldn’t have handed lucrative contracts to cronies, supported liars and law breakers , voted to pour sewage on our beaches -I could go on.

henetha

I, and many others, are already in what they call "Fuel poverty* (more than ten percent of income going on fuel).
How much more can we take?
I find Liz Truss' plans very disturbing. It will do nothing for the really poor. At least Rishi Sunak seems to have a better understanding of what it's like, even if he hasn't ever experienced it.

If the price cap goes up to £5000 a year the majority of households will be in fuel poverty, completely unacceptable in the 21st century. Liz Truss’s claim that tax cuts will solve many of the current problems shows how out of touch these people are.

don't ask how but i managed to get a deal set in stone until december 23! i pay £250/month and my account for both stands at £13.50 at moment! but i am watching "the space"

grandtanteJE65

Shinamae

Whitewavemark2

Sunday Telegraph saying it will rise to £6000 in April next year.

“They” can say what they want, I will not be paying any more than what I can actually afford and will bear whatever consequences this brings to my door… I think if you do pay what you can AFFORD that they cannot come down on you too heavily but time will tell…

How I wish this were true, but I do not believe it is.

Whatever utilitiy you use, you have to pay the actual cost of the number of units you use plus the various taxes and any other charges involved.

The only way you could possibly only pay what you actually can afford is by working out how many units of electriciy or heating you can afford and making sure that that is all you actually use.

With prices as they are, I am afraid that doing this will mean living in a stone cold house all winter, or alternatively, having heating on, but only one small electric lamp on at a time - no tv etc.

Our utility companies are not putting up their prices just to earn more money or to annoy us. They are having to pay more for the raw product they buy, plus more for turning it into the product they sell us. So if you only pay what you can afford, but are using more than that, you basically are defrauding the company.

This can never be legal, and if we all do it, will lead to a great many utility suppliers going bankrupt.

What you could do, is to try to negotiate an agreement with the supplier along the lines of your paying a flat rate to cover your minimum needs and paying usage over and above that in installments.

I have no idea whether they will agree to this kind of arrangement, but doing so would probably be in their interest as you are basically acknowleging that you owe them money that you are trying hard to pay off.

I think my way is more acceptable than people who are going to refuse to pay anything at all come first of October..

Our utility companies are not putting up their prices just to earn more money or to annoy us.

I agree that they're not doing it to annoy us, but they are doing it to earn more money. The price for electricity is based on the price for gas (because most of our power stations are gas fueled). What they are not accounting for is renewables, which make a significant contribution to our electricity grid. In a fairer world they would be pricing on an aggregate of gas and renewables costs.

I'd also be surprised if their standing charges aren't overpriced, too. Which you pay whether or not you actually use any electricity.

I think that the standing charge is being used for many of those extra charges, MaizieD, such as all the extra expense incurred when companies have gone bust amd other companies have had to take them on at a loss.

Let's hope that the government does what many suppliers are already asking them to do, and moves a chunk of those costs over onto general taxation.

How Truss thinks she can help out the people who are struggling most through lowering taxes is beyond me.
If the warnings are right, and typical energy bills reach £6000 next April, people will be having to pay what, about £4500 more for their energy than they were paying last year? I can't begin to imagine how high someone's salary must be if they could save that much on their tax bill!

And that's just thinking about fuel, never mind all the rising cost of everything else too.

How Truss thinks she can help out the people who are struggling most through lowering taxes is beyond me.
That's exactly what I thought. I'm no mathematician but I couldn't see how that would be any help at all. Unless you abolish income tax altogether and even then it probably wouldn't be enough to cover their fuel bill.

Zoe65

Liz truss is still foreign Secretary and working as well as the hustings.Boris is also working on holiday too.
Rishi resigned as we know so just doing the hustings .
They are not a despicable government .do you seriously think the likes of starmer ,Rayner and co would do better!!!
They woukd let the unions ride rough shod over everything etc
They were a “good “ government when handing out your furlough money .You can’t have it all ways

Who let Nadine Dorries join GN?

HousePlantQueen

Zoe65

Liz truss is still foreign Secretary and working as well as the hustings.Boris is also working on holiday too.
Rishi resigned as we know so just doing the hustings .
They are not a despicable government .do you seriously think the likes of starmer ,Rayner and co would do better!!!
They woukd let the unions ride rough shod over everything etc
They were a “good “ government when handing out your furlough money .You can’t have it all ways

Who let Nadine Dorries join GN?

??

I heard today that the price of fuel is going to affect work patterns as people will go into the heated office more often rather than heating their own homes. And others will use libraries and other public buildings. I am worried about pubs closing. Traditionally that was where people used to go for warmth.

Romola

I heard today that the price of fuel is going to affect work patterns as people will go into the heated office more often rather than heating their own homes. And others will use libraries and other public buildings. I am worried about pubs closing. Traditionally that was where people used to go for warmth.

Are those the libraries and public buildings that they are considering closing some of the time over winter to save fuel if the possible fuel shortages that we are being warned about happen?

I really don't want to appear smug because I'm certainly not, I feel extremely fortunate that I was lucky enough to have been approached back in May 2021 by one of the big 6 utility companies offering a fix until July 23. What I am worried about is how much my payments will increase at that point considering that since I fixed we've already had increases in October 21 and April 22, plus we'll have further increased in January, April and July to take into consideration by then. I suspect my payments will be going up by at least 5 times what I'm paying now and ESA just doesn't stretch that far.

Not a single government representative willing to appear and talk about the massive energy price rise.

Who let Nadine Dorries join GN?

????????