Obviously wasting a lot if the house is empty during the day!!!
Just annoys me when people moan about the government collecting the tax - not like they throw it away on aid to nuclear powers with space programmes - oh hang on.
It's all a bit of a cartell....all of the big 6 will put their prices up eventually...they've got you by the bollocks, just wrap up warm in the winter.
The problem with the competition argument is that it's a fallacy in so many of the privatised industries. Take for example water, I can't change water company so how is there competition? Trains are the same, when I go to the station I don't have a choice of train companies operating the route, so where's the competition?
There is one reason and one reason only that privatisation happened, to keep the Tories in power. They wanted to offer tax breaks to the middle classes to secure votes, but to do that they needed money. At the same time there were a load of nationalised industries that needed investment urgently. So the choice was, invest in the country, or give tax breaks, and they chose (as they always will) the latter.
Same with right to buy. This wasn't some noble scheme to get people onto the housing ladder, it was a cynical plan to turn labour voting council tenants into conservative voting home owners, with the added bonus of bringing short term funds into the councils allowing them to look good by either offering lower taxes or spending on headline projects. The problem is of course that councils now have no housing stock, so we have massive waiting lists, and when someone needs housing urgently the councils end up paying extortionate rents to private landlords. And when I say extortionate I really mean it. Some friends of mine were recently put in emergency housing in dartford, a crappy 2 up 2 down terraced cottage near the railway line. It was in terrible condition, cold, damp, dirty. The council were paying £1200 a month for that property. If the landlord was just doing a standard private let they would be very very lucky to get much over £500 a month. We're paying that, every one of us through higher taxes, hence council tax keeps going up whilst services get cut. Everything we owned was sold off to offer tax cuts in the late 80s/early 90s. It's gone now and we'll never get it back as no politician will every spend what is necessary to buy back what we once had, even if it would save us a fortune in the long run.
There you go though, democracy, where anything beyond the next election is largely meaningless and short term thinking prevails. The house of lords was supposed to be the counter-balance to this short-termism, but then they stuffed it full of political party members, driving the very short term agendas they were supposed to balance out.
Pretty much how I see it* randy and sadly it was foreseable from the start.
*With the exception of council tax rising as the govt have just frozen it for the 3rd year running.
I pay about £70pm for gas, in a 4 bed semi. I reckon Paul has a leak or some sort of problem. Unless he has an arger (sp?) & heated swimming pool.
No none of these..... no leaks have been detected and meter has been checked several times. Had 2 new boilers fitted recently costing £5k - its a twin system, but made little difference. Might have to move to a flat!
I'm a staunch capitalist but I am finding myself thinking more and more that certain industries need to be either (re)nationalised or run by private companies under very strict rules on what they are allowed to charge. Essentials like water, gas, electric, fuel etc should not be allowed to operate in an essentially unregulated market where they can simply put their prices up and know that their so-called competitors will just follow suit. This is particularly galling when dealing with products whose prices are based upon a raw material (oil, gas etc). When you look at the price of the raw product and compare it to the price we pay you see just how much we are getting ripped off but the regulators do nothing other than say that our bills need to be made clearer and easier to understand. No! Our bills need to be made smaller and easier to pay!
/rant
I agree with this.
A looooooong time ago when I was at school, it was taught as a given that utilities (Gas, Electric, Water) are run as monopolies by the Government and always would be as that was the most efficient way to deliver the services. The only alternative that was considered at the time was to have more than one water pipe running down the road,more than one electric cable and more than one gas pipe - now, as that is ridiculous, it was dismissed. What was not foreseen by my teachers was the way competition in gas and electric could be fabricated. we only have one gas pipe and electric supply going into our house, yet we can choose supplier. It's not real, it's a fantasy! You couldn't make it up. Fair play to the genius politicians that thought it up.
Nan and I have just done the best thing for old'uns. Cavity wall insulation ( free ), more loft insulation ( free ), and some nice warm jumpers !
none of these..... no leaks have been detected and meter has been checked several times. Had 2 new boilers fitted recently costing £5k - its a twin system, but made little difference. Might have to move to a flat!
The best way to get your bill down is kick the missus out. I will be there in shorts/t-shirt, she will have heating on, jumper on and a blanket over her.
I don't think Thatcher did it to win elections. She did it because she had a massive distrust of public services. That mistrust is still prevalent today in her party and to be fair with the public too. The problem is that there is a good historical reason for the mistrust - a public company/body isn't going to go bust and has a captive market so needs to have disciplines imposed on them and can become bloated if it takes its position for granted. Thatcher had given up on them - not that she was ever probably for them. I think she honestly believed that the free market was always the answer which even many conservatives would say now isn't the case.
You have to make public services as efficient and cost effective as possible - but not replace them with private enterprise in false markets. I can't see why that should be too hard to achieve - especially as if you formed a new utility public company you would be starting from scratch and make sure you get it fundamentally right. Thatcher's greatest supporters (not in the literal sense) were the Arthur Scargills and Red Robbos of the time. They felt no responsibility to the country - only their members and created the conditions and seeds for a ruthless capitalism that whilst I think it was needed as a short sharp prescription at the time- is still having damaging consequences today.
The problem is now is that we have been conditioned too. If you mention public services people generally think badly run and no good and private companies are shining beacons. It is all one sorry mess if you ask me. We should demand the highest standards and cost effectiveness from public services, but never question that we need them. Anything that Thatcher didn't get round to privatising - shouldn't be privatised.
The problem with the competition argument is that it's a fallacy in so many of the privatised industries. Take for example water, I can't change water company so how is there competition? Trains are the same, when I go to the station I don't have a choice of train companies operating the route, so where's the competition?
There is one reason and one reason only that privatisation happened, to keep the Tories in power. They wanted to offer tax breaks to the middle classes to secure votes, but to do that they needed money. At the same time there were a load of nationalised industries that needed investment urgently. So the choice was, invest in the country, or give tax breaks, and they chose (as they always will) the latter.
Same with right to buy. This wasn't some noble scheme to get people onto the housing ladder, it was a cynical plan to turn labour voting council tenants into conservative voting home owners, with the added bonus of bringing short term funds into the councils allowing them to look good by either offering lower taxes or spending on headline projects. The problem is of course that councils now have no housing stock, so we have massive waiting lists, and when someone needs housing urgently the councils end up paying extortionate rents to private landlords. And when I say extortionate I really mean it. Some friends of mine were recently put in emergency housing in dartford, a crappy 2 up 2 down terraced cottage near the railway line. It was in terrible condition, cold, damp, dirty. The council were paying £1200 a month for that property. If the landlord was just doing a standard private let they would be very very lucky to get much over £500 a month. We're paying that, every one of us through higher taxes, hence council tax keeps going up whilst services get cut. Everything we owned was sold off to offer tax cuts in the late 80s/early 90s. It's gone now and we'll never get it back as no politician will every spend what is necessary to buy back what we once had, even if it would save us a fortune in the long run.
There you go though, democracy, where anything beyond the next election is largely meaningless and short term thinking prevails. The house of lords was supposed to be the counter-balance to this short-termism, but then they stuffed it full of political party members, driving the very short term agendas they were supposed to balance out.
Great post, pretty much as I saw it when it was happening!
We pay our gas/electric on a monthly basis...as we use it (not averaged out over the year)....in the summer months (June-Aug) our gas bill can be as low as 5 pound...In one month...August I seem to recall we only used 2 units of gas (we have solar panels on the roof...good in sunny Hastings)...however we usually end up with gas bills of around 130-200 pound pre month in the period from Nov-Mar and for the other months such as April, May, Sept and Oct we would typically pay 20-60 pound per month. With electricity we pay anywhere between 30-40 pound a month through-out the year. Don't consider this to be to bad as our house is pretty old (1890, 4 bed Victorian detached) and takes a fair bit to warm it up.....oh yer water (whilst we are discussing bills) averages out at around 38-40 pounds per month...we have a meter.....council tax off the top of my head is just under 1300 a year.....sorry for keep writing pound...I've a Singaporean lap-top....no POUND sign.
After the announcement of yet another price hike of 6% on top of my £330 per month gas bill, I have decided to speak with British Gas to discuss my options and probably leave them for a more competitive supplier. On phoning them today - the day that they announce their increase, the Customer Service Department is closed this morning for staff training........... couldn't make it up.
'fess up Paul .. do us all a favour, you initially typed MONTH instead of quarter ... didn't you ?
The utility companies all put their prices up, just in time for winter... always, every year. It's too powerful a cartel to be able to prove conspiracy. Why anyone/everyone hasn't shopped around for a long term guaranteed tariff I don't know.
when the energy companies were first sold off the price they could charge was regulated and the govenment (ofgem)imposed a cap. in 2002 blair and brown decied there was enough competition to let the market set its own tariffs.
I forget who on here works for/recommended First Utility but it works for us, pay for what you use monthly and a kite at Christmas for dual fuel discount of about 300 quid.
How on earth is your gass bill £330? I pay £89 for gas and electric each month.
Biggish, 5 bed detached house, but no one home during day -its well insulated, double glazed, etc. Just a money pit to heat - during the winter the gas bill makes my eyes water. The meter has been checked loads of times by BG.
I have a biggish 4 bed detached, gas bill is 95 quid.
I forget who on here works for/recommended First Utility but it works for us, pay for what you use monthly and a kite at Christmas for dual fuel discount of about 300 quid.
Energy prices will continue to increase as we all know. Yet we happily keep paying for electricity even though a lot of us have a simple solution. I'll hold my hands up and say that I am involved in the renewable energy industry before I say this. If you could buy a solar energy system using the money you would be paying to the electricity company anyway and see a return of at least twice the investment in the longer term surely you would look at that option. If a bank offered a return of 6-12% tax free and guaranteed for 20 years you would have a queue round the block but that is exactly what Solar PV gives you. Not everyone will want to do it but if you really want to check this out get in touch with me directly and I can tell you if your house is feasible and the full benefits. PM me if interested. Brian Cole
Comments
Just annoys me when people moan about the government collecting the tax - not like they throw it away on aid to nuclear powers with space programmes - oh hang on.
*With the exception of council tax rising as the govt have just frozen it for the 3rd year running.
Not allowed to say such things though!
http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2012/07/29/green-energy-makes-some-people-see-red/
A looooooong time ago when I was at school, it was taught as a given that utilities (Gas, Electric, Water) are run as monopolies by the Government and always would be as that was the most efficient way to deliver the services. The only alternative that was considered at the time was to have more than one water pipe running down the road,more than one electric cable and more than one gas pipe - now, as that is ridiculous, it was dismissed. What was not foreseen by my teachers was the way competition in gas and electric could be fabricated. we only have one gas pipe and electric supply going into our house, yet we can choose supplier. It's not real, it's a fantasy! You couldn't make it up. Fair play to the genius politicians that thought it up.
516 units/5673 kwh @ 3.863p.
none of these..... no leaks have been detected and meter has been checked several times. Had 2 new boilers fitted recently costing £5k - its a twin system, but made little difference. Might have to move to a flat!
Never mind that, just move to a warmer Country !
I will be there in shorts/t-shirt, she will have heating on, jumper on and a blanket over her.
You have to make public services as efficient and cost effective as possible - but not replace them with private enterprise in false markets. I can't see why that should be too hard to achieve - especially as if you formed a new utility public company you would be starting from scratch and make sure you get it fundamentally right. Thatcher's greatest supporters (not in the literal sense) were the Arthur Scargills and Red Robbos of the time. They felt no responsibility to the country - only their members and created the conditions and seeds for a ruthless capitalism that whilst I think it was needed as a short sharp prescription at the time- is still having damaging consequences today.
The problem is now is that we have been conditioned too. If you mention public services people generally think badly run and no good and private companies are shining beacons. It is all one sorry mess if you ask me. We should demand the highest standards and cost effectiveness from public services, but never question that we need them. Anything that Thatcher didn't get round to privatising - shouldn't be privatised.
What a good idea that was
I'll hold my hands up and say that I am involved in the renewable energy industry before I say this.
If you could buy a solar energy system using the money you would be paying to the electricity company anyway and see a return of at least twice the investment in the longer term surely you would look at that option. If a bank offered a return of 6-12% tax free and guaranteed for 20 years you would have a queue round the block but that is exactly what Solar PV gives you.
Not everyone will want to do it but if you really want to check this out get in touch with me directly and I can tell you if your house is feasible and the full benefits.
PM me if interested.
Brian Cole