Perhaps I should get a methane fuel cell and make my own electricity with those prices!**LINK**

Things will get even worse now that National Grid have sold off all our gas grid to an Australian mining co.

A common mantra is "You get what you pay for". So I'm pleased with the price increase, indicating much better quality electrons than the ones sold before. I'm still worried about French electrons. A background of soft cheeses and high fat odd-shaped bread rolls isn't a good look for the hard electricity I want with a long use-by date. It was bad enough in the 50's when we were promised nuclear would be so cheap they wouldn't charge for it – so poor quality they took those off the market.

pgk

Just Nationalise it all, like with the water

Private companies can only gouge you if a government deconstructs a utility sector into a messy pile of bits

Offshore wind definitely needs to be nationalised

My nationalised water bill for the year is 270

sewerage 314

I didn't think water was nationalised but I have my own borehole and reed-bed sewage so the only bills are for electricity for its pumps and (so far) one replacement pump and a couple of pressure vessels.
Nationalisation of old lead to a top-heavy idle workforce, poor public investment and a union stranglehold, although i do agree that basic utilities should belong to us rather than be sold abroad for a fast money-raising exercise to waste on the next vanity project.

pgk

They kept Scotlands water nationalised, politics schmolitics because of the SNP

edit: The railways are a mess, they've always been a mess up here, Scottish rail seems to be a sinkhole for bolshevik employees and incompetent managers

Edited By Ady1 on 05/04/2022 10:32:20

Ady, the railways are no better down here in England. Dave W

.

As per the link that I provided earlier

But of course, the cheap electricity was a by-product

MichaelG.

The price consumers pay for gas is complicated by all sorts of issues, but the root cause of this one is supply and demand. When more people want to buy gas than is available, the price rises until someone drops out. If more gas is available than people want to buy, then the price drops.

For over 30 years the UK Wholesale Gas market remained stable, but that happy state of affairs ended last year with sharp rises in price.

First effect was to bankrupt about 30 of the cheap-deal gas retailers, who were prevented from passing on wholesale prices increases to their customers by customer contracts and a government imposed price cap. The cap was designed to stop gas retailers making excessive profits on the assumption gas would stay cheap. Wrong! So the retailers went bust, and their customers were transferred to British Gas, who provide continuity of supply. If you land in the British Gas safety net, they charge the current going rate, not whatever the previous bankrupt supplier agreed to.

Second effect, this month the government lifted the price cap to reflect the actual cost of wholesale gas. Everybody who was protected by the old cap, now has to pay the current rate.

Ironically, whilst Gas Retailers are going bust right, left and centre, Gas Wholesalers make big money from price rises caused by shortages.

Where does UK gas come from? Over half is imported, so anyone who expects the North Sea and Morecombe Bay to keep domestic gas prices low is in for a disappointment.

The UK competes with the rest of the world to buy gas from producer countries. This year's price bump was partly caused by the economic bounce back after the major disruption caused by COVID. However, whilst worldwide demand for gas continues to increase, it's unlikely prices will fall again. Putin's foolish invasion of Ukraine won't help: presumably he gambles Europe's long-term dependency on Russian Gas will cause everything to be forgiven. (Russia is a major gas producer.) Actually, as appeasing Putin has been followed by escalating bad-behaviour in Chechnya & Co, Syria, Crimea and now Ukraine, I think the West will respond by dramatically cutting trade with Russia and doubling or tripling Defence expenditure. The peace dividend is over: critics would suggest the government and West generally have been very tardy in recognising this.

Rising gas prices are one of two reasons it's vital to move the UK away from burning fossil fuels as a source of energy. North Sea Gas, especially in the Scottish sector, has been in slow decline for 20 years and God isn't making any more! The UK's position in twenty years will be grim unless action is taken now.

As the UK is a rich country, we will be able to buy gas long after poorer countries have been forced out. Already been serious riots in Turkey and elsewhere people have been unable to buy gas at all. Not good for the UK, because violence abroad creates refugees, disrupts trade, and other instability.

Dave

.

Yes, but my point was that the public was ‘manipulated’ to see the short-term benefit

The ‘need’ for the plant related to defence requirements … therefore the Electricity was a by-product.

Agendas change, and the Accounting changes with them.

MichaelG.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 05/04/2022 13:30:26

In round figures, 70% of French electrons are sent on their way by nuclear power, 20% by renewable and only 10% by fossil. Easy to see why they don't have to increase their electricity prices as much in response to wholesale gas increase