News Archive - 2008
67,000 pounds electric shocker
A Hotel owner has received a 67,000 pounds electricity bill the power company underestimated his usage for at least a decade! Keith Makepeace’s family has run the Soar Mill Cove Hotel in South Devon for 30 years, but he now faces making staff redundant to pay the bill. He said: “We don’t have the resources to come up with this, It’s going to affect the number of staff we keep.” An EDF Energy spokesman said: “Because estimates were used to calculate bills, a significant amount of electricity has been used and not paid for.”
The Daily Mail 07.09.2008
Now Millions face a 29pc power bill rise
Adam Scorer, campaigns director at the Independent watch-dog Energywatch said: “The brakes have failed on the energy market. The results are calamitous.” This is the second price increase from both companies this year. SSE – Britain’s second largest supplier and owner of Southern Electric, Swalec and Scottish Hydro Electric – last put up its prices in April when electricity bills rose 14.2 per cent and gas went up 15.8 per cent. E.On’s last increase was announced in February. It put gas charges up 15 per cent and increased electricity bills by 9.7 per cent.
The Company’s energy supply director Alistair Phillips-Davies said: “The world is experiencing an energy shock of a kind not seen since the early 1970’s, but which is likely to have more profound and lasting consequences. Graham Bartlett, managing director of E.On’s retail business, said: “I’m very aware of the effect that today’s announcement will have on our customers and I recognize that this is a very though time for everyone. This is not an easy decision to make and we’ve tried to keep these increases as low as possible while protecting as many of our customers as we can.” Last month, British Gas announced a swinging 35 per cent rise for gas bills and 9 per cent for electricity, with rival EDF upping bills by up to 22 per cent. Wholesale gas prices rose yesterday – to reach 109p per therm up from 104p – following the closure of the Norwegian North Sea pipeline.
The Daily Mail 26.08.2008
Bills could rise to an average 1,467 pounds in 2008
Ann Robinson, a Director of Consumer Policy, has a stark warning for customers! – “The days of cheap energy are over. We are seeing the largest ever increase in household energy bills in one year. We are potentially looking at a 61% increase in total this year.
An energy price alert from uSwitch 02.08.2008
Soaring energy prices prompts sector downgrade
The impact of the soaring costs of gas and electricity prices on managed pub operators has prompted a leading City Analyst to downgrade his profit forecasts for the sector. Panmure Gordon’s Douglas Jack said the Punch Taverns had confirmed its estimated electricity and gas prices for 2009 were likely to be between 30 per cent and 50 per cent higher than this years’ figure. As well as hitting utility costs, distribution costs would also be adversely affected, Jack said.
The Publican 09.06.2008
Utility Prices Increases Explained
Unfortunately the price of gas and electricity has risen in recent months which have impacted the price energy suppliers are able to offer. The big 6 have highlighted the fact that wholesale prices have surged since February last year, with gas prices rising by 117% and electricity prices by 90% over the period. But why has this happened? It is true that wholesale prices had fallen from highs seen in early 2006 but they began to rise again in about February 2007. A variety of factor4s have been at play. Most of our gas still comes from the North Sea, but production has been declining faster than was expected. As a result, the UK has had to import more of its total gas supplies. Meanwhile, the wholesale prices of gas which is linked on the continent to the price of crude oil – has been driven higher by record oil costs, which this week broke through the $117 a barrel barrier. Meanwhile, rising coal prices have made producing electricity at coal-powered plants more expensive. The companies also cite a doubling in their spending commitment to reach government carbon emission reduction targets. And as European firms turn to the UK’s more liberalized market for supplies as a cheaper alternative to that offered in mainland Europe, this has also driven up UK wholesale prices.
Market Update 25.04.2008
Surge in price of oil sees record one-day leap in power costs
Oil, Gas & Electricity prices hit fresh records yesterday, raising fears that the global economy is becoming “destabilised”. At one stage, the price of a barrel of oil topped $117 leading to record one-day increases in the wholesale cost of gas and electricity. The increases will be passed on to consumers, piling more pressure on families already struggling with soaring utility and food bills.
The Daily Mail 22.04.2008
Nuclear firm takeover “may send energy bills soaring”
The potential foreign takeover of nuclear firm British Energy could send energy prices soaring, ministers were warned yesterday. The Government is selling its 35 per cent stake in the company, which owns Britain’s nuclear sites. French firm EDF and the German-owned RWE npower are in the running to snap it up. Last night, the consumer group Energywatch said if a foreign company takes control, it would “almost certainly” lead to a rise in energy prices. Electricity prices have shot up by 70 per cent in the past three years, and the reduced competition resulting from the nuclear sell-off would lead to further price increases, Energywatch said.
The Daily Mail 12.04.2008
Sales Staff suspended by Npower
NPOWER yesterday suspended 17 staff after claims that its sales staff use dirty tricks to attract new customers. Bosses said they were starting an investigation into the accusations made by a reporter working undercover at the energy firm. Some salesmen falsely told customers they would save money by switching to Npower, while others claimed they were from the “electricity board”, the Sunday Times report said.
The Daily Mail 07.04.2008
Message from a leading suppliers economics and planning department – electricity prices will soar!
Why is this? This is British Energy’s latest position with their reactors at Hartlepool and Heysham. They are both off-line at present and following the latest inspections which discovered “corrosion” in wires on the boiler units to the reactors; there is no projected date for production to recommence. In fact, there is not even a projected date for when they might be able to give a possible restart date. As it stands they are out of action indefinitely and almost certainly for the remainder of the winter. This drop in electricity production will of course have a negative impact on the electricity market in the next few months.
Energy Update 16.11.2007
