Dai Corner
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Could you give us some examples of socialist countries which aren't suffering from high gas prices?
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Energy price rises and price cap discussion.
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Any that haven't flogged off their gas resource to speculators.
I agree - replacing standing charges would likely be a backwards step. I would however support a national or regional standing charge that is outside of tariffs - e.g. everyone who gets supplied electricity pays the same standing charge. At the moment my supplier charges a higher standing charge on current fixed tariffs compared to the default capped tariff, yet the costs of energy supply are no different.
Don't be daft. The present mob are so wedded to the principle that the free market will resolve issues and just minor tinkering around the edges is all that might be required that they will still be insisting that we don't need to do anything drastic as the freezing and starving mob is breaking down the door of No 10. It's an article of faith for much of our political class and their various hanging on media personalities, newspaper proprietors and assorted other commentators that you just need to get out of the way and let the market sort it all out. I see no evidence the that incoming Prime Minister and her supporters are cut from different cloth in this regard. Indeed they seem to be even truer believers than we've ever had.
Not specifically and I'm not sure there is anything they could do about gas prices themselves but for me it's the lack of any real sense of crisis or urgency from Government and the incoming Prime Minister and her team that's highly concerning. This is a crisis and it will require significant interventions by Government to deal with unless we really do just want people to freeze to death and/or starve.
Last nights hustings seemed to be more concerned about tired Culture War nonsense and scrapping speed limits than how they will propose to ensure that Granny Ethel will be able to heat her home come December and she needs to run the heating all day but cannot afford to do so.
DelayRepay
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Yes. I'm sure I remember the current Prime Minister telling us there wouldn't be lockdowns...
The harsh reality is that if we do not have enough energy (not that prices are too high, but demand exceeds supply), then organised rotating power cuts, with advance notice, are far better than random blackouts. I cannot believe we are having this discussion in 2022 in the UK, but here we are.
Being honest with people and asking everyone to make an effort to reduce consumption during specific periods would help. I genuinely think most people would try their best for the greater good, even without financial incentives.
GusB
Established Member
The unused barbecue that has been sitting in my shed for years may yet see the light of day. Christmas dinner al-fresco?
We do have enough energy to reduce the price substantially, we've just given it to a third party to speculate it on the international market to sell back to us at an inflated rate.
It's all wearing a bit thin, expecting the public to tighten its belt while faceless corporations walk off with the profits. Same goes for the water companies, which have never even had the fig-leaf of competition to justify their existance.
Oh, the government (and ruling class) are a lost cause, but this hopefully knocks the electorate into voting someone with a different approach in. This should be yet another nail in the Tories "electoral coffin" for a generation
DelayRepay
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So we don't have it. We sold it. Not saying we were right to do so, but that's the reality of the situation.
Dai Corner
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The main one that comes to mind is Venezuela, which has had one or two problems over the years. They will have more as the demand for their gas and oil slips away.
They may well have had their problems, but over inflated energy prices presumably wasn't one of them.
DelayRepay
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The unused barbecue that has been sitting in my shed for years may yet see the light of day. Christmas dinner al-fresco?
One of my exciting Bank Holiday jobs was going around the house locating torches and making sure they had working batteries. I tend to keep them in strategic places after experiencing a couple of power cuts just after I moved in.
I've also bought extra batteries and made sure my camping stove is at the front of the garage (easily accessible) and has a couple of spare gas cannisters. Someone suggested I was over-reacting. Maybe, but at least I won't fall down the stairs in the dark and will be able to make a brew or heat a tin of soup.
Nope. They have some of the cheapest petroleum product prices in the world.
Edit: Just looked it up, they pay around $0.02USD per litre!
Source - https://tradingeconomics.com/country-list/gasoline-prices?continent=world
Dai Corner
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I'd rather pay world prices for my energy than suffer the problems they've had though.
Well indeed, but there's nothing to say that Venezuelan socialism is the only alternative Thatcherite laissez-faire.
Dai Corner
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So rather than criticising things done decades ago by people long since passed away and now can't be reversed, let's have some practical suggestions for today's world?
Howardh
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Totally. Politicians and right-wing papers seem more bothered about which toilet I should use and a couple of royals/ex-royals rather than the impending hit on people's finances and the wider economy. Not to mention Ukraine and Truss's keenness to press the button.
Done all my heavy-dury waching ready for the winter today, it's bright, blustery and even the thickest blankets and 10-tog duvets dried outside in under an hour. That'll be a few farthings saved down the line. Anthing that gets dirty/sweaty over the winter like that will have to wait for spring!
Precisely!
We're a hardy bunch up (or, er, down I guess this case) here but we're not that hardyThe unused barbecue that has been sitting in my shed for years may yet see the light of day. Christmas dinner al-fresco?
kristiang85
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Johnson's solution is for us all to spend £20 on a new kettle to save £10 a year off our £6000+ bills.
nlogax
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Christ's sake. That sums Johnson up, an absolute Poundland PM.
Howardh
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Ah, we're all saved, all we need is a new kettle. Handy, as I've just ruined my old one by banging it against my head.
Trainbike46
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Loads have been put in this thread, including:
-improving building standards for new builds that do not yet have planning permission to Passivhaus or similar
-support for DIY insulation of homes
-support for professional insulation of homes and public buildings (schools, hospitals etc.)
-real, clear, genuine advice for people to reduce energy use, including advice on how to that is up to date
-looking if construction at hinkley point C can be sped up
-temporary support for electricity bills
-making it easier to build onshore wind (as it is easiest and quickest to deploy, so can add renewable capacity quickly)
-expanding the round for more offshore wind
-get a move on with sizewell c and more new nuclear power stations
-make it easier for people to put solar on their own roof
Bletchleyite
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Wha? Kettles don't really vary in efficiency, they pretty much all put 100% of the electrical energy into the water give or take a little LED to tell you it's on. If you want to save money using a kettle, only boil what you need rather than full every time.
He might I suppose be thinking of very old kettles where due to the shape and position of the element, it may not be possible to only boil one cup of water, but have those been on sale at all in the last 20+ years?
One thing that might help if you drink coffee (flask tea isn't as nice) is making a flask of it to drink through the day, but your old kettle will do it fine
Howardh
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Including a 10-paragraph document from OVO's owner. Anyone else like me think good ideas won't be taken up because they haven't come from the cabinet? Meanwhile the cabinet have come up with, er, hang on....kettles.
Dai Corner
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Indeed. So why drag up things from the past to have a pop at someone who hasn't been in Government for thirty years?
Trainbike46
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acknowledging what caused the mess we're in seems like a useful part of fixing it, tbh
Most of the above is already happening
Still sold for catering I believe. But I agree that all the domestic kettles I have seen in recent years have the heating element in the base.
An advantage of the old style was that when the element failed, you could replace it. Now you have to replace the whole kettle.
Dai Corner
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I think it's been established that the UK has no state-owned oil or gas reserves under the North Sea. We are where we are.
How about fracking? Who owns the rights to the gas underground?
I think it belongs to the Crown generally.
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