Don’t leave us hanging, OP — post the article text! Or at least the figure…
Edit: oh, god, I had to go to The Sun to find this out, so I hope someone else appreciates it:
> £273
Yup – but why the standing charge is up is a mystery.
> Households will still have to pay standing charge connecting them to National Grid
Wait, why do people even still have a contract if they aren’t using any gas or electricity? Just phone them up and ask to be disconnected / terminate the contract. Right?
And how does he know “exactly” what the next energy cap is being set to?
I haven’t paid for it, so there might be reasons. But this sort of scaremongering crap is part of why I don’t pay for it.
Cut to the chase £273.
I have a regular old gas meter in a box, on the front of my house. It doesn’t belong to me, I’m not allowed to mess with it, and its function is to give the utility company information. It’s never maintained or serviced, and must have been paid for decades ago. Why I’m still paying a charge for having it is beyond me. It’s a complete scam that I’m paying for their equipment, along with the supplied gas. Meters shouldn’t cost the customer anything, or only for the period of time until its cost has been covered. You shouldn’t have to ‘rent’ one indefinitely. Perhaps I should charge them of reading it on their behalf? I don’t need the meter readings, they do. It’s like when some mobile companies were carrying on charging you for your handset, long after you paid for it. I don’t know how much they actually cost the utility companies, but I must have paid for many over the decades. The fact that the charge of this ancient, cobweb infested box is going up is ridiculous. It’s not costing them anything at all. IMHO they’re just stealing, because they can.
Not as bad as I thought then
Martin Lewis reveals exact amount all households will pay even if they don’t use any energy
Households will still have to pay standing charge connecting them to National Grid
Lucy Skoulding
3 hours ago
MoneySavingExpert founder Martin Lewis says households will still pay hundreds this year even if they choose not to use electricity or gas.
With the energy price cap going up by 80 per cent on 1 October, everyone will owe their energy supplier money even if they opt not to switch the heating on.
Mr Lewis explained how much households will pay when the new energy cap comes in this winter in his latest MoneySavingExpert newsletter.
Anyone who pays their bills by direct debit will face an 80 per cent increase from £1,971 to £3,549.
Those with prepayment meters will see their bills go up from £2,017 to £3,608 a year.
But Mr Lewis says even those who use no energy at all will have to pay £273 a year due to the daily standing charge households must pay to keep their homes connected to the National Grid.
MoneySavingExpert founder Martin Lewis says households will still pay hundreds this year even if they choose not to use electricity or gas.
With the energy price cap going up by 80 per cent on 1 October, everyone will owe their energy supplier money even if they opt not to switch the heating on.
Mr Lewis explained how much households will pay when the new energy cap comes in this winter in his latest MoneySavingExpert newsletter.
Anyone who pays their bills by direct debit will face an 80 per cent increase from £1,971 to £3,549.
Those with prepayment meters will see their bills go up from £2,017 to £3,608 a year.
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What is the energy price cap and what does it mean for you?
Why gas and electric prices are rising
But Mr Lewis says even those who use no energy at all will have to pay £273 a year due to the daily standing charge households must pay to keep their homes connected to the National Grid.
Even those households that use no energy at all will have to pay some money to their energy supplier
(PA Wire)
He said: “The daily standing charges that you pay just for having a bill rose hugely in April, and increased a touch more this time.
“If you have both gas and electricity, the average price cap standing charge is £273 a year before you use anything.”
Those on prepayment meters will have to pay an even bigger standing charge of £319.56 a year.
Ofgem sets a maximum daily standing charge in its price cap, which is the maximum amount energy suppliers can charge for a unit of gas and electricity.
It varies slightly by region as it’s pricer to provide energy to more remote areas.
You can look at the exact rate of your region using Money Saving Expert’s table.
Currently the price cap is at £1,971 a year for the average household paying for energy by direct debit.
From 1 October this will rise to £3,549 for an average household.
Following the announcement of the price cap rise, Mr Lewis has shared some ways households can save money on their energy bills.
These tips include:
Check if you’re entitled to benefits. You can use a free online calculator like Turn2Us and then apply via the Gov.uk website.
Save money on internet – see if you can get, for example, a social tariff, from an internet provider such as TalkTalk’s free trial for jobseekers.
Get a water meter. It records the amount of water used in your home, rather than your supplier charging you a fixed rate.
Cut your credit card debt by moving it to a zero interest balance transfer card.
It’s just a con, considering 4% of our gas came from Russia the increase in price is just a joke.
I don’t get this weird obsession with Martin Lewis. Never heard him anything that anyone with half a brain couldn’t work out themselves.
Adding together the two standing charges and multiplying by 365 isn’t exactly brain surgery.
So the standing charge is now more than what I used to pay per year.
Sp its best just to cancel our direct debits before October 1st.
I’m on a decent salary and even I will be taking measures this winter to reduce impact of soaring bills. Such as showering at gym, not turning on heating at all etc. I could probably get by with not having to make cuts, but I would not have much money left over for anything else.
I’m with Utilita on prepayment and there is no standing charge.
If you are on prepayment and in emergency you don’t pay standing charge
We have solar panels (rare bit of common sense on my part after I saved some side income money I made instead of pissing it away at the pub). In the good old days we used to have *annual* bills that roughly equalled the current standing charges quoted in this article 😭
And here I am in Wales surrounded by fuck off massive wind turbines. *weeps
Standing charges are a penalty on consumers for the failure of regulation to protect them from supplier failure. Suppliers are allowed to bill customers in advance, don’t have to ring fence that money, they can use that money for whatever they want, and if they go bust no one at the company has to pay, other consumers do. It’s an absolute disgrace.
Why’s it making out like he’s done a magic trick with a big “reveal”, he’s just reading and repeating readily available information and added nothing to it.
18 comments
Don’t leave us hanging, OP — post the article text! Or at least the figure…
Edit: oh, god, I had to go to The Sun to find this out, so I hope someone else appreciates it:
> £273
Yup – but why the standing charge is up is a mystery.
> Households will still have to pay standing charge connecting them to National Grid
Wait, why do people even still have a contract if they aren’t using any gas or electricity? Just phone them up and ask to be disconnected / terminate the contract. Right?
And how does he know “exactly” what the next energy cap is being set to?
I haven’t paid for it, so there might be reasons. But this sort of scaremongering crap is part of why I don’t pay for it.
Cut to the chase £273.
I have a regular old gas meter in a box, on the front of my house. It doesn’t belong to me, I’m not allowed to mess with it, and its function is to give the utility company information. It’s never maintained or serviced, and must have been paid for decades ago. Why I’m still paying a charge for having it is beyond me. It’s a complete scam that I’m paying for their equipment, along with the supplied gas. Meters shouldn’t cost the customer anything, or only for the period of time until its cost has been covered. You shouldn’t have to ‘rent’ one indefinitely. Perhaps I should charge them of reading it on their behalf? I don’t need the meter readings, they do. It’s like when some mobile companies were carrying on charging you for your handset, long after you paid for it. I don’t know how much they actually cost the utility companies, but I must have paid for many over the decades. The fact that the charge of this ancient, cobweb infested box is going up is ridiculous. It’s not costing them anything at all. IMHO they’re just stealing, because they can.
Not as bad as I thought then
Martin Lewis reveals exact amount all households will pay even if they don’t use any energy
Households will still have to pay standing charge connecting them to National Grid
Lucy Skoulding
3 hours ago
MoneySavingExpert founder Martin Lewis says households will still pay hundreds this year even if they choose not to use electricity or gas.
With the energy price cap going up by 80 per cent on 1 October, everyone will owe their energy supplier money even if they opt not to switch the heating on.
Mr Lewis explained how much households will pay when the new energy cap comes in this winter in his latest MoneySavingExpert newsletter.
Anyone who pays their bills by direct debit will face an 80 per cent increase from £1,971 to £3,549.
Those with prepayment meters will see their bills go up from £2,017 to £3,608 a year.
But Mr Lewis says even those who use no energy at all will have to pay £273 a year due to the daily standing charge households must pay to keep their homes connected to the National Grid.
MoneySavingExpert founder Martin Lewis says households will still pay hundreds this year even if they choose not to use electricity or gas.
With the energy price cap going up by 80 per cent on 1 October, everyone will owe their energy supplier money even if they opt not to switch the heating on.
Mr Lewis explained how much households will pay when the new energy cap comes in this winter in his latest MoneySavingExpert newsletter.
Anyone who pays their bills by direct debit will face an 80 per cent increase from £1,971 to £3,549.
Those with prepayment meters will see their bills go up from £2,017 to £3,608 a year.
Recommended
Energy price rises: Bills up £693 as Sunak ‘to offer £200 rebate’
What is the energy price cap and what does it mean for you?
Why gas and electric prices are rising
But Mr Lewis says even those who use no energy at all will have to pay £273 a year due to the daily standing charge households must pay to keep their homes connected to the National Grid.
Even those households that use no energy at all will have to pay some money to their energy supplier
(PA Wire)
He said: “The daily standing charges that you pay just for having a bill rose hugely in April, and increased a touch more this time.
“If you have both gas and electricity, the average price cap standing charge is £273 a year before you use anything.”
Those on prepayment meters will have to pay an even bigger standing charge of £319.56 a year.
Ofgem sets a maximum daily standing charge in its price cap, which is the maximum amount energy suppliers can charge for a unit of gas and electricity.
It varies slightly by region as it’s pricer to provide energy to more remote areas.
You can look at the exact rate of your region using Money Saving Expert’s table.
Currently the price cap is at £1,971 a year for the average household paying for energy by direct debit.
From 1 October this will rise to £3,549 for an average household.
Following the announcement of the price cap rise, Mr Lewis has shared some ways households can save money on their energy bills.
These tips include:
Check if you’re entitled to benefits. You can use a free online calculator like Turn2Us and then apply via the Gov.uk website.
Save money on internet – see if you can get, for example, a social tariff, from an internet provider such as TalkTalk’s free trial for jobseekers.
Get a water meter. It records the amount of water used in your home, rather than your supplier charging you a fixed rate.
Cut your credit card debt by moving it to a zero interest balance transfer card.
It’s just a con, considering 4% of our gas came from Russia the increase in price is just a joke.
I don’t get this weird obsession with Martin Lewis. Never heard him anything that anyone with half a brain couldn’t work out themselves.
Adding together the two standing charges and multiplying by 365 isn’t exactly brain surgery.
So the standing charge is now more than what I used to pay per year.
Sp its best just to cancel our direct debits before October 1st.
I’m on a decent salary and even I will be taking measures this winter to reduce impact of soaring bills. Such as showering at gym, not turning on heating at all etc. I could probably get by with not having to make cuts, but I would not have much money left over for anything else.
I’m with Utilita on prepayment and there is no standing charge.
If you are on prepayment and in emergency you don’t pay standing charge
We have solar panels (rare bit of common sense on my part after I saved some side income money I made instead of pissing it away at the pub). In the good old days we used to have *annual* bills that roughly equalled the current standing charges quoted in this article 😭
And here I am in Wales surrounded by fuck off massive wind turbines. *weeps
Standing charges are a penalty on consumers for the failure of regulation to protect them from supplier failure. Suppliers are allowed to bill customers in advance, don’t have to ring fence that money, they can use that money for whatever they want, and if they go bust no one at the company has to pay, other consumers do. It’s an absolute disgrace.
Why’s it making out like he’s done a magic trick with a big “reveal”, he’s just reading and repeating readily available information and added nothing to it.