The whole energy crisis thing

Given how many energy providers in the U.K. have been going bust it’s clearly not them that are creaming off profits - they’re buying energy at stratospheric prices and selling it to consumers here at the price cap, which in many cases isn’t profitable… so they go bust.

Any companies that own oil and gas fields are the ones that are profiting … or the countries that export energy (and tax those exports) - Russia particularly … do British Gas own any natural gas fields? Don’t think so and so they’re unlikely to be profiteering…

alistair cashing in on what? They’re invested in global financial markets, which are doing crap right now…they do collect in funds from energy export proceeds but they’re assets are being hosed right now… net net their returns will be badly negative right now

ScottBailey On the other hand, these professional wellfair parents who have got 6 kids and another on the way, sucking from the system because it pays better than a real job, constantly make bad decisions and choices in life, who didn’t want to live within their means from the beginning…not so much.

…fucking hell Scott, you really think in the grand scheme of things they are the problem!?

Utilities companys should be nationalised. They fail at the first hurdle of free market economics in that different providers cannot offer different levels of service. Can provider A pump electricity into my house more efficiently than provider B? Nope. Can they provide a higher quality electicity? Nope. Can I live without electricity? Nope. I’m sure it’s classified as a need, not a want in various places which it should be.

It makes the whole enterprise a cartel between providers where they can keep one upping on the price because….. why not…. Others will bump thier prices in tandem and the customer has no where to go.

Nationalise the lot.

The one thing that no one seems to talk about is how it will affect the housing market. People won’t be able to borrow as much as they used to, so, I would expect this to affect property values in the future.

I bumped into a mate in Morrisons today who works for a company which provides electricity to small businesses. He said it’s going to more than double in October but then said just wait until next year. I then asked him what could he do to help them. Not a lot was his reply.

Unbroken1 Nope. Wasn’t laying blame for the cost of energy at their door. It’s gross what the energy companies are doing, and the problem lays squarely with them. Personally I think we should’ve gone full tilt with expanding nuclear energy many moons ago, but the amount of red tape, political toing and froing, and “no to nuclear” protesting that’s dragged places like Hinkley Point into the quagmire has been painful to watch.

I was just pointing out where my sympathy lies more as a result of the above.

Wally Think I’m in agreeance with this. Just look at the rail network as an example. Privatisation was supposed to save it from ruin, but instead it’s turned into an utter shit show! Didn’t stop the prices skyrocketing in the process either.

Jules72 raising prices because why not? Human greed and a business’ raison d’etre which is to make money. If they can ramp up prices and know the customer has no choice but to pay, they will. What we’re seeing now is the end game of that philosophy.

mono-stereo exactly, the slow slide you don’t notice until you’re in that position too, and by that point it’s too late

Wally it’s post capitalism at its finest, a last desperate dash to grab as much of your money as possible

Cunts

The turkeys are coming home to roost for everyone.

If there’s a silver lining it might force more thinking about renewables and better choices.

Don’t see those ‘in power’ doing any such strategic thinking though.

As it is, nobody gives a fuck as long as they’re not personally inconvenienced.

Viva La Revolution

Jules72 Yeah sure, that’s why, for example, French prices haven’t risen at all.

Was reading this about the green tax we pay as part of our bills:

https://fullfact.org/economy/green-levies/

This bit jumped out at me:

“While it is true that some of the money from these costs goes towards large-scale renewable energy projects, they are also used to fund a range of other environmental policies, including improvements to the energy efficiency of homes and business and Feed in Tariffs paid to households for surplus energy generated from renewable sources (like solar panels). ”

Am I being incredibly thick here, or is this claiming that the green tax goes towards paying for energy that people with solar panels sell back to the grid? So we are contributing towards the energy companies buying back energy, which they go on to sell again for profit. Is that what this is actually saying?

What are peoples thoughts on the following statement. ’We’ve had it too good for too long’.

It’s something I have heard from a couple of people over the last few weeks. The argument being that in comparison to the rest of the world we are have been living in relative luxury - we work, we earn decent money, we have leisure time, multiple leisure options etc. Maybe that has to end now and our resources go towards paying for needs rather than wants.

Any substance to that folks?