another energy company [e.d.f] have announced a 10.9% increase on their energy bills

[stokemaveric]

from the beginning of december..wrap up folks its going to be a cold,hard winter...

[sunny-dave]

Nice to see the French Government making some brass from freezing UK pensioners ....

[hc4361]

Thank heavens I fixed my tariff for 2 years when Martin Lewis told me to

[factor-fiction]

It looks as if they are all doing it.
I am with OVO ona 12 month contract to Novemeber this year. They had the best deal last year but my renewal showed an 11% increase so I said I'd look around. There response was to say, in effect-well you've missed your chance because we are now going to put the gas bit up by a bit more than we said last week so the overall increase will now be 12.5%.
I have now changed to another fixed deal which will be about 5% cheaper and I get a £30 cash back.
But it's far too difficult to compare properly- I have to use detailed spreadsheets but it shouldn't have to be that way

[sunny-dave]

But you shouldn't have to hc4361.

Energy supply to homes is a 'natural monopoly', best carried out by non-profit making entities supplying gas/electric at a price fixed by an independent ombudsman to reflect the cost of generation and supply.

Simple transparent pricing and none of this fake botox about 'competition'.

Ah yes - we did sort of have that a while ago ... and a big reserve of gas in the North Sea to last us many lifetimes ... I wonder who can have been stupid enough to piss all that up the wall ...

< ears burning Thatcher lovers? >

[factor-fiction]

Maybe, sunny-dave. I'm not sure who would run this organisation though-would it be the civil service?

[ummmm]

Both our gas and electricity are going up by 6%. British gas has offered us a 'fix and fall' meaning if we accept the tarrif until Nov 13 our prices will not go up again but will go down if prices fall.

A friend with Scottish power has said their electricity has just gone up by 25%....now that's a hike.

[sunny-dave]

We already have ofgem - current motto "proud to be as effective as a chocolate fire-guard".

Put some strong management in there, give them some teeth and make them work for their money.

[stokemaveric]

can it be right that some people in the uk will freeze to death this winter??

[factor-fiction]

Sorry, I didn't mean that, sunny-dave- I meant who would run the operations currently handled by BG, Scottish Power, EDF, NPower etc- billing, meter readings, buying energy

[sunny-dave]

I accept that (short of re-nationalisation) it's impossible to completely remove the profit element - but it needs to be a lot more controlled and transparent than it currently is.

Let the current providers carry on - but fix a single, simple, national tariff that they all have to use - the more efficient ones will survive, the others will bail out as their easy profits are eroded.

[factor-fiction]

I think the government should appoint Martin Lewis to head up a review team to come up with plans - it should be possible to come up with something within 3 months. I'll help him.
Even the comparison sites are flawed and there are charging systems that should be outlawed such as penalties for changing early, or NPower's discount that you only get at the end of a 12 month period if you stay with them.