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TODAY'S OTHER NEWS

Energy Costs - would frequent reviews help landlords and tenants?

Energy regulator Ofgem is suggesting that the energy price cap be updated quarterly rather than every six months. 

This is only a proposal at this stage, not a definite action - but would this help tenants and therefore landlords manage their energy spending better?

In addition to the huge price leap of over 50 per cent revealed last month when the price cap was reviewed, the next scheduled review - in October - is set to see yet another increase. 

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Industry estimates suggest another £600 a year increase for a typical household, taking the annual bill to £2,600. After that, prices are expected to fall back, but not by significant amounts.

Ofgem says a more frequent price cap would reflect the most up to date and accurate energy prices and mean when prices fall from the current record highs, customers would see the benefit much sooner.  

This change would also help energy suppliers more accurately predict how much energy they need to purchase for their customers, reducing the risk of further supplier failures which ultimately push up costs for consumers. 

“Our top priority is to protect consumers by ensuring a fair and resilient energy market that works for everyone. Our retail reforms will ensure that consumers are paying a fair price for their energy while ensuring resilience across the sector” explains Jonathan Brearley, the regulator’s chief executive.

He continues: “[This] proposed change would mean the price cap is more reflective of current market prices and any price falls would be delivered more quickly to consumers. It would also help energy suppliers better predict how much energy they need to purchase for their customers, reducing the risk of further supplier failures, which ultimately pushes up costs for consumers.  

“The last year has shown that we need to make changes to the price cap so that suppliers are better able to manage risks in these unprecedented market conditions.” 

 

 

Ofgem says the current method means that consumers are not able to reap the benefits of falling gas prices quickly enough. 

This consultation - if it results in a decision to implement - would allow Ofgem to bring in the changes from October this year.

Ofgem also recently wrote to suppliers to alert them to a series of market compliance reviews to ensure, amongst other things, that they are handling direct debits fairly, and that overall, they are held to higher standards for performance on customer service and protecting vulnerable customers. 

Want to comment on this story? If so...if any post is considered to victimise, harass, degrade or intimidate an individual or group of individuals on any basis, then the post may be deleted and the individual immediately banned from posting in future.

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    The price cap has been a disaster and caused multiple companies to go bust.
    Consumers used to have the ability to shop around and sign up for the deal that best suited them. It may have been the cheapest, greenest, best customer service, etc. Or they could just do nothing. Then the nanny state stepped in and decided people who couldn't be bothered to engage and look for the best deal needed protecting from their own inertia.
    The government has no control over world market prices and forcing companies to sell at a price that was below cost was obviously going to cause casualties.
    Let's hope the government have learnt that lesson and don't try it with rent controls.

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    The measure that would help people the most would be to mandate that all energy companies must produce an up to date statement of account every month. The ones that went bust nearly all did it but the remaining companies generally don't. I got dumped on British Gas and Eon last September. In that 8 month period British Gas has managed to produce one bill per property and Eon haven't done any yet. I put in meter readings every month and pay by direct debit but have no idea what the account balances are. They're showing massive credit balances but I kept getting messages telling me to increase my direct debit. EDF also bill very infrequently. The one that is really impressive is Octopus. They update the account information every time a meter reading is submitted.
    I don't really approve of smart meters but have given in and got them on 2 electric accounts. They are both SMET2 but the differences between them is huge. The one on the Eon account has a better countertop display but no information on my online account log in. The Octopus one has huge amounts of information on my online account. Lots of graphs for daily, weekly, etc and the ability to see 30 minute usage. It's a bit nerdy but really does give the ability to analyse usage patterns.

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    Monthly billing! My elderly neighbours have a smart meter but British Gas bill them 6 monthly! They have no idea what the state of their account is - its a farce. I spent 2 hours getting them put on to monthly billing - not holding my breath to see if it has actually happened! And the functionality of their website is cr*p. Still the CEO takes home a nice fat pay packet & it has got British in the title so it must be ok.

     
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    I have just discovered Hugo energy app. For those of you who can't use your in home display unit due to poor signal, this is the answer. This app runs on your phone, so doesn't connect to your smart meters directly. You do not need an in home display unit. You give the app permission to access your smart meter data and you can see all the information on your phone.

  • George Dawes

    I’m avoiding so called smart meters completely, especially after finding out you can be remotely cut off in times of supposed high usage and there’s nothing you can do about it

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    Yes George, they can be used for unit pricing,as well. They are costing National grid a fortune. Onto peasant hood !

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    It’s simply moving the furniture on the Titanic! Come October after the next increase and just before another one in January I can see civil unrest early next year.

  • George Dawes

    The peasants are revolting

    Yes they most certainly are m’dear , pass us another canapé

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