Anybody expecting a U turn?

[klondike]

On removing the £67 a month subsidy on energy bills? I think it likley otherwise the other minor good things Sunak has done said he will do go down the toilet big time when the bills roll in.

Households Braced For Expensive "New Normal" As Higher Energy Bills Kick In

Cost of living campaigners have urged government not to allow a "new normal" of high gas and electricity bills, which will increase by at least £67 this month.

Last year the government introduced a range of measures to help households meet rising costs, exacerbated by the end of lockdown and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. These included a £400 rebate through its Energy Bill Support Scheme (EBSS) paid in six instalments and capping the average yearly energy bill at £2,500 through the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG).

The EBSS has now ended, meaning people will resume paying full bills from April, and while the EPG has been extended for three months, prices remain 120 per cent higher than they were 18 months ago.

Cost of living campaigners have warned that the end of the £400 rebate leaves households on lowest incomes facing turmoil. Simon Francis, coordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, told PoliticsHome he believed people were being "taken for fools" by being charged elevated prices.

"Homes across the country will be in for a big shock [after] this weekend," said Francis.

Full report : https://www.politicshome.com/news/article/fuel-prices-rise-least-67-april

[Alex]

I had an e-mail from Scottish Power today -

Following on from our January update, the Government has decided to extend the current level of the Energy Price Guarantee. It means that a typical annual bill will remain at around £2,500 until the end of June this year. And, more positively, the prediction is that, due to falling wholesale energy costs, prices will reduce in July to around £2,000
 

So, as a rough guide, staying on our standard variable tariff until the end of 2023, the average annual bill would be around £2,1753.

With the drop in wholesale prices, we may start to see the introduction of some fixed price energy deals. Whilst these initial deals might be lower than what you're paying right now, it's important to remember that by fixing your prices you wouldn't benefit from the price reduction that's expected in July.

Predictions show that bills will fall in July and could remain around this level throughout 2023
You would automatically benefit from these reductions on your current tariff

[klondike]

The £2,500  Energy Price Guarantee remains but the additional £67 a month that has been paid into your energy account or to you directly is stopping.

[Alex]

In that case I hope there's a U Turn 

[Diasi]

Today, at the time of posting, only 13.5% of UK electricity is from gas, so therefore only 13.5% of our energy bills are affected by gas prices.

I keep an eye on this several time a day & it's shown me what an utter scam the entire energy prices are.

https://grid.iamkate.com

[Ashy]

Yes I agree that if the idea of using solar and wind to power the grid was to save us money, it is a dismal failure. However the idea was not to save us money, because we now have to pay for the conventional power stations as well as the windy stuff and it's costing us a packet. Labour's answer apparently was to buy more windmills. There have been very few minutes, if any, when we used no gas at all (that would be virtually no gas because we still have to keep the power stations hot); The idea was to appear virtuous on the world stage. The government is our enemy and their own publicist.

[Michael Rolls]

Absolutely