Standing charges are little more than backdoor profiteering, where are ofgen on this?
From the article;
“Standing charges are going up because of rising costs for energy firms, including the cost of covering failed energy companies, and large increases in the cost of fixing electricity infrastructure, such as power lines.”
and
“standing charges have more than doubled in two years, and are set to keep going up”
​
Inflationary costs to energy companies to provide customer services, engineers, infrastructure etc…fair enough. That’s got to be covered somehow and it isn’t pegged to energy usage.
Paying the cost to cover failed energy companies though….aren’t our energy companies private? If they go bust, that’s a problem between that company and their creditors. Why are other energy companies (and by extension end consumers who weren’t even with those failed companies) picking up the tab?
Because they know more peoples attitude is to use less energy overall to reduce bills, so energy companies said F you we’ll raise the standing charge to bill you anyway.
why the big difference between the standing charge of gas and elec?
Money. That’s why. It’s always why.
If people consciously use less energy the companies see less income and they want that income to be topped up by an unavoidable charge that has to be paid even if you use zero energy.
So when the charges are recouped from the failed energy companies the charges will go down?
*Padme face*
Right?
Why are standing charges going up? because…..
..
..
… there aren’t enough chairs!
My Sister lives in London. I live in rural Scotland. Her electricity standing charge is 39 pence each day. Mine is 60 pence. The justification for that is that it is more expensive to supply electricity to my home in a village of 47 houses than it is to supply her in Chiswick.
I mean, I can look at the back window and see a forest of electricity windmills turning furiously right now in today’s high winds. Quarter mile away there’s a hydro power station. The standing charge now doesn’t take into account where green energy is being generated. And that’s “up north”.
But it’s not just us customers being charged more. The companies running those generating facilities are being charged more to access the national grid too. It’s a double whammy of unfairness, biased in favour of the south east, made worse here by cold weather starting earlier and ending later, with lower temperatures.
The whole thing needs looked at.
Wealth redistribution from the poor to the rich. I live very frugally and barely use any electricity. I have a 1 bed with plenty of natural light. Boiler off in non winter months. Shower at the gym which is next door. When I topped up my metre it used to really last a really long time. These days the money goes down so fast due to the ridiculous standing charge. If you have gas and electricity it’s nearly 1pound a day. Madness.
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Standing charges are little more than backdoor profiteering, where are ofgen on this?
From the article;
“Standing charges are going up because of rising costs for energy firms, including the cost of covering failed energy companies, and large increases in the cost of fixing electricity infrastructure, such as power lines.”
and
“standing charges have more than doubled in two years, and are set to keep going up”
​
Inflationary costs to energy companies to provide customer services, engineers, infrastructure etc…fair enough. That’s got to be covered somehow and it isn’t pegged to energy usage.
Paying the cost to cover failed energy companies though….aren’t our energy companies private? If they go bust, that’s a problem between that company and their creditors. Why are other energy companies (and by extension end consumers who weren’t even with those failed companies) picking up the tab?
Because they know more peoples attitude is to use less energy overall to reduce bills, so energy companies said F you we’ll raise the standing charge to bill you anyway.
why the big difference between the standing charge of gas and elec?
Money. That’s why. It’s always why.
If people consciously use less energy the companies see less income and they want that income to be topped up by an unavoidable charge that has to be paid even if you use zero energy.
So when the charges are recouped from the failed energy companies the charges will go down?
*Padme face*
Right?
Why are standing charges going up? because…..
..
..
… there aren’t enough chairs!
My Sister lives in London. I live in rural Scotland. Her electricity standing charge is 39 pence each day. Mine is 60 pence. The justification for that is that it is more expensive to supply electricity to my home in a village of 47 houses than it is to supply her in Chiswick.
I mean, I can look at the back window and see a forest of electricity windmills turning furiously right now in today’s high winds. Quarter mile away there’s a hydro power station. The standing charge now doesn’t take into account where green energy is being generated. And that’s “up north”.
But it’s not just us customers being charged more. The companies running those generating facilities are being charged more to access the national grid too. It’s a double whammy of unfairness, biased in favour of the south east, made worse here by cold weather starting earlier and ending later, with lower temperatures.
The whole thing needs looked at.
Wealth redistribution from the poor to the rich. I live very frugally and barely use any electricity. I have a 1 bed with plenty of natural light. Boiler off in non winter months. Shower at the gym which is next door. When I topped up my metre it used to really last a really long time. These days the money goes down so fast due to the ridiculous standing charge. If you have gas and electricity it’s nearly 1pound a day. Madness.