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

They are not making a profit No, because they have very good and very expensive accountants.

Ofgem faces legal action for ‘unthinkable’ 80% energy bills hike

Jolyon Maugham of The Good Law Project is suing OFGEM

twitter.com/GoodLawProject/status/1563895486439907329?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

Centrica’s adjusted operating profit for the first six months of 2022 rose to 1.34 billion pounds, up from 262 million a year earlier.28 Jul 2022

This from Reuters.com. Centrica owns British Gas, who have just doubled the cost of my household energy! I think they deserve my rage

varian

There are two types of energy companies - energy producers (like Shell and BP) and energy retailers like EDP . British gas and Ovo.

It is the energy suppliers who are making the outrageous profits and surely our government can address this directly with windfall taxes.

Hope everyone reads this post. Be careful before you accuse energy retailers of making huge profits, British Gas, Ovo, Octopus, EDF, E-On. Some energy retailers have gone bust. Check their profits on Companies House website before accusing them. You may get a shock to find they are not making any profit.

Vent your rage at the energy suppliers who are making billions and need to give it back.

There are two types of energy companies - energy producers (like Shell and BP) and energy retailers like EDP . British gas and Ovo.

It is the energy suppliers who are making the outrageous profits and surely our government can address this directly with windfall taxes.

LizzieDrip

^I don’t understand why

I don'tt understand why either^

I don’t really understand but here’s my take on it. A Conservative gov will not ‘interfere’ with private industry. The energy companies are making huge profits for their shareholders - happy shareholders; happy Tories. Who gives a sh** about the consumer. We are a ‘captive audience’. We can’t say OK, I won’t buy your overpriced electricity -because we can’t do without it. Energy companies & gov know this. The so-called ‘price cap’ put out by the (discredited) ‘regulator’ Ofgem appears to be skewed in favour of the energy companies NOT the customer. Ofgem says it needs to keep the price cap rising to prevent energy companies going bust. Surely the energy companies could do this themselves by accepting lower profits during an energy crisis! Back to my original point - keep the rich shareholders happy. Round and round we go

LizzieDrip Thank you for confirming my take on the fact that although the market prices have gone up the energy companies are making huge profits so surely we are being massively overcharged. How can energy companies be in danger of going bust while enjoying the benefits of selling something essential to those who can’t do anything but accept what Ofgem decides. Surely a strong government would be in discussions with Ofgem with a view to directing their thinking towards a fairer deal for customers.

Steep!

This is how energy has increased in price over the past few years.

My DD

October 2019. £110
October 2020 £122
October 2021 £198- I thought was a strap rise!
October 2022 £408 est. by Martin Lewis from his energy club that I belong to.

From the Guardian

" There's nothing more I can do to save energy. We are already frugal because we are already poor. We already don't leave lights on, we already don't leave devices on or plugged in. I always put on a jumper instead of turning up the heating. We use hot water bottles, blankets, big jumpers, socks. I don't cook meals or have the oven on much, I microwave noodles. My Dad lives mainly on cereals, soups and pasta, poor peoples food.
I can't go out less, I can't drink less, there is nothing more I can give up at this point. I can't live less.
It's a niggling worry that never goes away, it's just a more intense version of what life is always like when you are poor. Every month you don't know if you are going to make it to the next payday.
But then there is the rage, So much talk, all these figures that have been bandied about possible refunds, rebates and loans. All the time the uncertainties are piling up. We have a zombie government and 2 possible leaders who will never have to live with this. They have never been poor, they have not even been poor students, they have never even played at being poor.
Liz Truss , the favourite, and her biggest promise is to cut taxes? Read the room, half the country is worrying about keeping warm in winter, the NHS is on it's knees and she talking about helping the richest people stay rich.?
It's the lack of security and the lack of policy that is hard to live with. When both possible leaders make vague promises about " help being available for those who need it" you want fact, detail, an action plan.
In the meantime the one thing I can't stand is any advice from MP's or " experts" on how to save money. I don't want to be told what to cook or what to buy for 30p, or ways to keep warm, or the best tricks to save electricity .
Why do they think they can be poor better than I can? I have done it for a lifetime.

Siobhan, Midlands.

I currently pay £140 a month direct debit for gas and electricity and have £508 credit on my account.

OVO has just advised me that I should increase my direct debit to £302 a month, which is approximately 25% of my total income. I don't have that kind of money, so I guess the only solution is not to turn the heating on this winter. :-(

Performance of UK government during covid pandemic - 6 out of 10.

Could have done better.

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

Why do you assume the alternative can only be Starmer / Rayner - and if it is, that they would not be able to do better?

It's obvious to most - and certainly to the far left who lose no opportunity to condemn / criticise Starmer for the very reason you are slating him - that he's not a rabid "up with the Unions to hell with the country" type of leader.

The position of PM - indeed the job of Ministers - is / are not run of the mill jobs where you can sit on a beach and peruse your laptop from time to time. The country is in crisis, millions of people's lives and livelihoods are at stake. The least Johnson - or his caretaker - could do is to come back and let the nation know that the crisis is acknowledged. There is nothing to stop them then going back to their holiday resort. I'm sure any really responsible statesman would do that.

When there is a crisis in the health service, medical professionals frequently respond by cutting short their holidays, or abandoning their time off.

Johnson did exactly the same at the start of the pandemic - missed 5 COBRA meetings. It's hardly surprising people think they are a despicable government.

As for furlough - most of Western Europe provided State finances to subsidise the payrolls of companies. They - and we - could do little else. It was not a "handout", it was a necessary economic measure to prevent the economy from collapsing which would have been disastrous for the government. And, as pointed out - not everyone received help.

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

Errr ... no ... it was a bad government then too. I didn't receive a penny of furlough money. As a self-employed person, I didn't receive a penny from anywhere, even though my work stopped overnight.

Even if nobody can do any better (which is doubtful), it doesn't mean it's not a despicable government.

The folks who predicted the October price cap within 50 quid accuracy now saying price cap will be 5386 in January and 6616 in April.

Whitewavemark2

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

... the silence actually speaks volumes doesn't it?

The solutions may not be simple - but the fact that nobody from government is prepared to make a statement about what is fast becoming a national crisis (I'm thinking of all the strike action here, too), tells me that they are not only incompetent, but also so blinded by their ideological economic model, that they simply do not care.

If the country erupts into civil disobedience, further strikes and mayhem, then they will deserve the instability - and the consequences of such instability. Unfortunately, we're all going to suffer because, at the moment, "Capitalism isn't working" - certainly not the free-market, libertarian Capitalism they espouse.

They are a disgrace, an utter disgrace.

Whitewavemark2

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

I heard that. They are obviously making-up their excuses writing a detailed reply as we speak.

Who let Nadine Dorries join GN?

????????

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

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.

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 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.

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?

??

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?

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.

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.