Some good news at last.

[otherclive]

It’s recently been reported that global emissions of CO2 are to rise this year by less than 1% compared to last year, and the increase has mainly been due to increased aviation industry activity. This is all against a backdrop of increased usage of coal following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Since the start of that invasion the EU has generated 25% of its energy from renewables, with an increasing proportion likely to be achieved more rapidly than plans predicted prior to the invasion. Even China is on track to start reducing its emissions by 2025 as their renewable sector combined with nuclear and a big push for electrification is showing benefits. This is good news prior to the forthcoming COP27, as with such a measure of progress countries may see their efforts are working which could encourage further progress.

 

[Mel]

Good news indeed. Given that no-one I know is turning the heating on this winter there should be even more progress 😀
Mel

 

[otherclive]

Good news indeed. Given that no-one I know is turning the heating on this winter there should be even more progress 😀
Mel

We’ve not any heating or gas fire on so far and with the forecast we should make November okay. even though we are on an April 2021 tariff. BG have just advised us to reduce our DD from £80 pm to £20pm. Perhaps by December they will be paying us to use their gas and electric. 😂

 

[Buckman]

We’ve not any heating or gas fire on so far and with the forecast we should make November okay. even though we are on an April 2021 tariff. BG have just advised us to reduce our DD from £80 pm to £20pm. Perhaps by December they will be paying us to use their gas and electric. 😂

They wanted us to drop our DD from £180 to £90? The sneaky part is that if you do drop the DD then at end of contract you may be in debt to them and may be unable to move to another provider and have to agree to another contract with BG at their price and in April prices may increase substantially. Age old trick. 🤔

 

[otherclive]

They wanted us to drop our DD from £180 to £90? The sneaky part is that if you do drop the DD then at end of contract you may be in debt to them and may be unable to move to another provider and have to agree to another contract with BG at their price and in April prices may increase substantially. Age old trick. 🤔

Why not just pay the outstanding debt whilst on standard rate then move to another supplier?

 

[Buckman]

Why not just pay the outstanding debt whilst on standard rate then move to another supplier?

The standard rate of "out of contract" rate is a lot higher. We do not have an issue, but many on low income get caught in this scenario preventing them from changing to a cheaper supplier.

 

[RogerL]

They wanted us to drop our DD from £180 to £90? The sneaky part is that if you do drop the DD then at end of contract you may be in debt to them and may be unable to move to another provider and have to agree to another contract with BG at their price and in April prices may increase substantially. Age old trick. 🤔

It's not a trick - simply pay what you owe and switch where ever you want

 

[otherclive]

The standard rate of "out of contract" rate is a lot higher. We do not have an issue, but many on low income get caught in this scenario preventing them from changing to a cheaper supplier.

I thought in one of your earlier posts your fixed rate was higher than the present capped rate. When I took out a two year fixed in April. 2021 the rate was higher than the then standard rate and the estimated difference would cost me around £90 more over the two year term. But of course that estimate didn’t factor in the very large jump in wholesale gas and electricity prices.

 

[Buckman]

It's not a trick - simply pay what you owe and switch where ever you want

It is definitely a trick used by the Big Six and they have been doing it for years. I worked in the industry and we were very aware of this issue. If it wasn't an issue, why did Ofgem stop the practice and customers are now allowed to change supplier? However many cannot change because they cannot pay the "old" debt and also pay the new supplier the new DD also so they stick with their current supplier.

 

[Buckman]

I thought in one of your earlier posts your fixed rate was higher than the present capped rate. When I took out a two year fixed in April. 2021 the rate was higher than the then standard rate and the estimated difference would cost me around £90 more over the two year term. But of course that estimate didn’t factor in the very large jump in wholesale gas and electricity prices.

You are correct regarding the fixed rate however prior to it being scrapped BG offered a lower variable rate with no contract. At the time there was a 2 year moratorium on the prices so it seemed a good deal and we moved to the variable rate. Unfortunately that has now been removed so we can look forward to higher prices in April!

 

[otherclive]

Even our "old girl" is doing her bit to help our drive to save energy ( and money too)!