I1L2T3 Posted March 29, 2014 Share Posted March 29, 2014 Perhaps you may consider why that is... it could be that you are an insulting and abusive person. Now if you want to debate you can apologise for you previous conduct. It could be but I'm not. The fact is you made a mistake in post #42 and didn't like being pulled up for it. You also are vigorously defending the energy industry. As a consumer who suspects that the energy industry industry is not delivering fair prices or value for money I'm perfectly entitled to challenge your position. You'll get no apologies for that. So are you going to discuss things or continue trying to troll and goad other posters? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amberleaf808 Posted March 29, 2014 Share Posted March 29, 2014 Been on the phone for over three weeks to get money owed to me from british gas, still waiting!! They now say give it 14 days to get a cheque.... Still not got it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Clowning Posted March 29, 2014 Share Posted March 29, 2014 Been on the phone for over three weeks to get money owed to me from british gas, still waiting!! They now say give it 14 days to get a cheque.... Still not got it! Can you not charge them for it being late, send a letter requesting it and stick x amount of money on for the cost of doing so ? That's what these companies do when you owe them anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivanava Posted March 29, 2014 Share Posted March 29, 2014 They've been making a lot of money for as long time and not invested. The investigation needs to find out why. Given their failure this may be one of those times that for national security reasons there may be a case for partial nationalisation of the generating industry. Are you sure, I remember a time when the lights used to go off most winters, this hasn't happened since the early 80's even though the population as increased, so presumably they must be generating more power now than they did then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anywebsite Posted March 29, 2014 Share Posted March 29, 2014 So we need energy companies to invest in new energy generation, and the profits they make will be the money they use to make such investments, but people are complaining about the profits they make so there is to be an investigation, which will result in them slowing down investment. Does that about sum it up. According to the graph here, its isn't energy that is the problem it is housing costs. Housing, utility bills and petrol now account for 27% of household incomes A decade ago figure was 19.9%, leaving more to spend on life's luxuries And its housing that accounts for 6% of that increase. The profits they make are by definition money not spent on investments, at least not in that tax year. If they were investing more money they wouldn't have such high profits, it'd be reinvested. Clearly housing is a massive problem, but that doesn't really reduce how important energy & fuel are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivanava Posted March 29, 2014 Share Posted March 29, 2014 The profits they make are by definition money not spent on investments, at least not in that tax year. If they were investing more money they wouldn't have such high profits, it'd be reinvested. Clearly housing is a massive problem, but that doesn't really reduce how important energy & fuel are. Key Facts about Centrica and British Gas These rising costs are external to our business and account for around 85% of the typical dual fuel household energy bill. British Gas profit from supplying energy to people at home has remained broadly flat over the last 6 years; margins may vary from year to year in a competitive market but have averaged 5% after tax during that time. In our upstream business, Centrica Energy, our margin is around 25% before tax. However we face a tax rate of around 75% on the gas and oil exploration and production (E&P) profits from this business. Our upstream businesses have made large capital investments, on which we would expect to make a return. Therefore the most appropriate measure of profitability is the Return on Capital Employed (ROCE) – profits after tax divided by the capital invested in the business. The return on capital from our E&P business was 8.3% in 2013 - a similar level to the Group's cost of capital. The return on capital from our power business is significantly less than the Group's cost of capital. Centrica Energy's gas fired generation fleet made a loss of £133 million in 2013. Our 2013 UK tax bill was nearly £600m, one of the highest in the FTSE 100, a vital contribution to paying down the national budget deficit and funding public services. Our total UK tax bill for the period 2007 to 2012 was over £4 billion. The profit margin across the Centrica group in 2013, which included all our gas production and power generation activities, was 5.1% after tax. Profits for a purpose Our profits fund investments in UK energy infrastructure and future energy supplies, keeping homes warm and well-lit – as well as supporting thousands of jobs. Over the past six years, Centrica has invested £1.85 for every £1 earned in profit. Our commitments to secure gas and power now total more than £60 billion - a vital contribution to Britain's energy security. Last year we invested £1 billion in North Sea gas and oil – making the most out of the UK's remaining resources. With our partners, we are developing the Cygnus field, the biggest gas discovery in the Southern North Sea for 25 years; at peak production it will produce enough gas to meet the needs of 1.5 million British homes (5% of UK demand). This is a £1.4 billion investment, 80% of which will be spent with UK based companies. In 2011, Centrica signed a 10-year gas supply contract with Statoil, starting in 2015, to export sufficient gas to meet the annual gas demand of 3.5 million British homes. In 2013, Centrica signed a 20-year deal to export LNG from the United States, contracting for future supplies equivalent to the annual gas demand of 1.8 million British homes and giving us access to one of the cheapest source of gas in the world. The first commercial delivery is expected in 2018. Between 2008 and 2013 Centrica has invested nearly £14 billion across our upstream and downstream businesses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I1L2T3 Posted March 29, 2014 Share Posted March 29, 2014 Are you sure, I remember a time when the lights used to go off most winters, this hasn't happened since the early 80's even though the population as increased, so presumably they must be generating more power now than they did then. OK, let me re-phrase that. If there is a risk that we may suffer power cuts then they have not been investing enough. There could be many reasons for this including government policy, market structure and the big six themselves. We need to understand how to establish some kind of coherent energy plan. Hopefully the investigation will help with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obelix Posted March 29, 2014 Share Posted March 29, 2014 It could be but I'm not. The fact is you made a mistake in post #42 and didn't like being pulled up for it. You also are vigorously defending the energy industry. As a consumer who suspects that the energy industry industry is not delivering fair prices or value for money I'm perfectly entitled to challenge your position. You'll get no apologies for that. So are you going to discuss things or continue trying to troll and goad other posters? I cannot help it if you choose to wifully and mendaciously read things that are not there. As I said, I'll wait for my apology. It's very odd that it's only really you that I have to request apologies from. I wonder why that is... You can also try and find out where I was "vigorously defending" the energy industry. Good luck because you wont find it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivanava Posted March 30, 2014 Share Posted March 30, 2014 OK, let me re-phrase that. If there is a risk that we may suffer power cuts then they have not been investing enough. There could be many reasons for this including government policy, market structure and the big six themselves. We need to understand how to establish some kind of coherent energy plan. Hopefully the investigation will help with that. It might, or it might slow down investment into new infrastructure and cause the lights to go out. Its in the best interests of energy companies to supply us with energy when we want it, so if the lights go out they won't be making money which is clear incentive to invest money to make sure they can supply us with energy. There is no point in them increasing supply if we don't want it, and there are clear incentives for them to increase supply as we demand more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mecky Posted March 30, 2014 Share Posted March 30, 2014 So we need energy companies to invest in new energy generation, and the profits they make will be the money they use to make such investments, but people are complaining about the profits they make so there is to be an investigation, which will result in them slowing down investment. Do they invest money though? They say the same thing every year and I haven't seen any improvement. I suspect they limit supply to try and justify a higher charge and therefore profit. It's not just the power business too but perhaps most business fields; the oil industry and OPEC have a history of doing it. No doubt the power generators/retailers be angling for some public money he to help subsidise their private business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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