Peoples Energy

[El Cid]

18 minutes ago, nightrider said:

many of them started how many years before the cap. How could they predict the government would interfere in the market to force them to sell gas at a loss?

The Government havnt forced them to sell at a loss, they entered into fixed deals with customers at summertime energy prices.

Then there was an acident with a major electrcity cable.

[BigAl1]

2 hours ago, nightrider said:

many of them started how many years before the cap. How could they predict the government would interfere in the market to force them to sell gas at a loss?

The cap is not new they have poor business models. The problem is that they did not buy forward contracts to cover the gas they needed to supply those fixed price contracts they were selling and so they are having to pay far more than they get in revenue. It is basic sense that if you sell a years supply at a fixed cost you buy forward contracts so you don’t go broke. You can take a risk and hope prices fall and thus make a bigger profit but you are stuffed if you get it wrong and prices increase. I suspect that few of their customers are on variable tariffs and that is not the cause of their financial problems.

 

the problem now is that the existing suppliers will be forced to take over the accounts and they will be selling the gas at a loss - result when gas prices fall they will need to recoup their losses so don’t expects prices to fall. 
 

the cap is benefiting many by keeping the gas price you pay lower. Worth remembering because without the cap you would be paying more.

 

true the market is not perfect

 

End of economics lesson 

 

now the government needs to decide what to do.

 

BTW I was not a fan of the cap.

Edited September 20, 2021 by BigAl1

[The_DADDY]

On 19/09/2021 at 18:50, makapaka said:

Getting worrying the issues with food supply and distribution in this country.

 

 

I went to the supermarket today. There were quite a few empty or half empty shelves. I got chatting wit h one of the girls who works there and she said they are struggling to get stocks of various items. Not just food but a wide range of things are getting difficult to get in store. 

 

[Guest makapaka]

11 minutes ago, The_DADDY said:

I went to the supermarket today. There were quite a few empty or half empty shelves. I got chatting wit h one of the girls who works there and she said they are struggling to get stocks of various items. Not just food but a wide range of things are getting difficult to get in store. 

 

Yup. Worrying.

 

little island aren’t we.

Edited September 20, 2021 by makapaka

[The_DADDY]

13 minutes ago, makapaka said:

Yup. Worrying.

 

little island aren’t we.

We are, sadly. I've been buying a bit more stuff here and there over the last few months and just stuck it all in the store room. I've got a decent amount of the essentials now. It's surprising how quick it adds up. Weve got a second freezer arriving today and that'll be stocked up best we can so hopefully we'll be OK for a reasonable length of time if these shortages get silly. 

However I've got fingers and toes crossed it's just a blip and things will be good in no time 

[crookesey]

Conversely this pandemic may just bring some common sense into the energy market, gambling on being able to sell for a profit prior to settling the bill is not a real business.

[Carbuncle]

3 hours ago, crookesey said:

Conversely this pandemic may just bring some common sense into the energy market, gambling on being able to sell for a profit prior to settling the bill is not a real business.

It has some good features for the operators: it is heads they win (if the gamble pays off), tails we lose (if the gamble does not pay off and the rest of the sector/ public has to pick up the tab).

Edited September 21, 2021 by Carbuncle

[crookesey]

When the energy markets get down to say, a dozen players, they will increase prices because they can. I see long time deals being the preferred method of payment, with the providers looking for the wheat rather than the chaff, poor payers will find themselves having to pay a premium for being a problem. I can’t understand why suppliers don’t give a discount for ‘Smart Meter’ usage and offer ‘save and pay’ schemes for those who have fluctuating earnings.

[HeHasRisen]

Just now, crookesey said:

 I can’t understand why suppliers don’t give a discount for ‘Smart Meter’ usage

Why do you think this is something they would want to do?

[crookesey]

3 minutes ago, HeHasRisen said:

Why do you think this is something they would want to do?

Because they have to pay the people who answer the phones to take meter readings, as against smart meter computerised  accounts.