Energy prices, what's your plan?

True enough. Although the energy producers won't be footing the bill, they'd be paying a fairer share on the excessive profits. Not the expected profits but the excessive ones.

I'd like to think if you nationalise fossil fuels and make the competition more attractive in the green sector we'd have both cheaper bills and be able to hit climate targets.

The talk of fracking (50 million years too late in the UK according to geologists) and drilling for oil (20-30 years until any is taken out) is daft for all sorts of reasons.

 

The green sector for sure - I never followed why simple things like linking consumer export rates to a percentage wholesale costs weren't implemented: punters are incentivised to over-provision and foot the bill, overall wholesale costs as an average go down, greater energy security through diversification... I fail to see who doesn't win out of it. Other than fossil fuel providers... Ah, I get it.

Don't forget the new nuclear plant planned that will really help out in 2040-odd

 

You will be

 

Yup, the market is still geared around the time we used to happily chug down oil and gas like it was gin and tonic.

I hate gin.

And now that the French government own EDF British taxpayers will be paying French taxpayers to build it no?

 

What's nutty is, my parents live in a notably red state in the US, and even there this green policy is implemented.

Oui

 

No, actually.

I thought the same, but my brother in law shot me down spectacularly when I brought it up. He's in some senior management role in the nuclear power industry and explained that EDF is split in such a fashion that the scary stories about us sending money to the French taxpayers is a load of bunk.

I'd elaborate, but we were drinking at the time and I can't remember.

 

I was thinking it can't be quite that straight forward as Peter paying Pierre.

 

Don't forget there are a bunch of old nuclear plants supposed to shut down soonish (like Heysham for example), so its more of a replacement for existing nuclear rather than extra nuclear.

 

Working in the oil & gas sector (service provider - our profits aren't up 300%!) the idea of "drill more" to alleviate this problem is laughable. The fastest of fast track projects from drilling an exploratory well to having gas/oil to send to shore would be multiple years (not months) and that assumes its an "easy" field. Guess what? All the easy fields have been drilled and are near empty and 90% water.

Taxing the UK oil and gas producers is fine but we are not self sufficient on oil or gas and there is naff all chance that you're taxing Saudi, UAE or Qatar based companies without also driving up the cost (import tax wouldn't help). So yes we can tax BP or Centrica and that sounds fair to me given the gross profits they're making but it wont offset all the increased costs.

 

And she did so in an impressive display of shithuggery.

1: She sold out her supposed core principles that got the party to vote for her in the first place.
2: She pissed off the HoC by not having the written version available on time.
3: She lied about it saving us money (no, the immediate cost of x going up by less than previously announced is not a saving)
4: She has left out what she is going to cut to pay for it.
5: She has done f*** all to prevent double dipping by the energy companies (aka raise electricity prices to cover the cap on gas prices while also taking money from the gov)
6: Rules around State Aid for companies may not be entirely compatible with the scheme.

 

Truss received £100k donation to her leadership campaign from the wife of a former BP exec.

I'm sure that's all coincidence.

 

If anything I think this energy crisis highlights the fact that the energy companies hold government's balls squarely and tightly in their hands, ready to give them a good squeeze anytime things aren't going the way they want. We are facing a multi billion pound borrowing spree to help those in need, yet the energy companies are reporting astronomical profits on the back of people suffering misery and financial ruin.

 

haha i was going to call it a win as it was within a week, but the policy is half arsed. It will suck this winter but not quiet as bad as we thought it would be.
But if your still offering!

I choose Jerry Green dog rescue

 

I'm on a contract until around March or April. So I'm not sure if the price hikes will apply to me until then. They probably will because I've never been signed up to a contract that's has favoured me over a business. Edit: Read the "Welcome" email and "Prices are subject to change".

In any case, I was thinking to run the whole place a few degrees lower and then just add a heater to boost the room I'm mostly in to a few degrees higher than that. Also just do a few sets of six count burpees whenever I'm feeling a bit cold. After all generating heat from within the body is more efficient than burning something to heat water so it can heat some air and that air can then heat me.

 

If I understand correctly, bit difficult when they're hardly forthcoming with detail, then if you're on a fixed price contract you can choose whichever will be cheaper without exit penalties.

 

The EU has invited the UK to join, essentially, a big buyers club to get cheaper energy prices banded together.

Can I see this Government taking the pragmatic, sensible, economic approach?

Nope, although I hope to be proven wrong.

 

I liked the moment when the correspondent is processing the "insignificant" comment.

 

I saw that at the time.

I had to rewind it to make sure I heard correctly as I couldn't fathom how he linked the two. Not sure how the Queen's death makes the energy crisis less of an issue.