Huge increase in wholesale gas prices.

[adam2]

Whilst d0m3stic gas and electricity consumers are protected from market prices by the government "price cap" this does not apply to business users. The going rate for electricity is now about 60 pence a unit, payable when a fixed price deal expires, or when the supplier goes bust and the customer transfers to an alternative supplier at market prices.

Prices are broadly similar in most of Europe. Indeed, very expensive UK electricity has been exported to France where prices were even higher.

At present it can be cheaper to use a diesel generator than to buy electricity at the prevailing market price.

About 20 gas and electricity retailers have now gone bust and rumours continue to circulate that one of the major energy firms are about to fail. 

[Junior8]

And just two days later https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59373198

[themadhippy]

 

Quote

Bulb will become the first energy company to placed into "special administration", where it is run by the government through the regulator

I'm sure we called that nationalisation when I went to school

[Junior8]

4 hours ago, themadhippy said:

 

I'm sure we called that nationalisation when I went to school

Agreed but we had governments then too...

[adam2]

All the other energy retailers that went bust ceased trading and their customers were transferred by OFGEM to alternative suppliers. 

This one is different as "bulb" will continue trading under government subsidy and control.

Dom3stic gas and electricity consumers are protected from market prices by the government "price cap" for now at least. I doubt that this can continue forever.  Non d0m3stic users are already having to pay market prices when a fixed price deal ends or when the supplier goes bust and the new supplier charges a market price.

The current free market price for electricity is about 60 pence or more a unit, compared to about 12 to 15 pence a unit charged a year or two ago. This has clear implications for entertainment venues when considering replacement equipment.

 

[kerry davies]

Short answer? The profits and dividends have been privatised and the losses have been socialised. We pay higher bills AND higher taxes.

 

[adam2]

This has got worse.

Natural gas has today reached another new record of about 470 pence a therm, after briefly going still higher.

I expect further substantial increases in retail gas and electricity costs. Non domestic  prices will rise towards market rates relatively quickly. I expect that non domestic  gas prices will reach about 15 pence a kilowatt hour and electricity prices will reach at least 60 pence a kilowatt hour.

Domestic prices are capped but will still increase substantially. 

[Simon Lewis]

In the same vein, diesel is now £7.50 a gallon near us...

[adam2]

1 hour ago, Simon Lewis said:

In the same vein, diesel is now £7.50 a gallon near us...

Not at all comparable. Petrol and diesel fuel are still very cheap. Prices are only slightly above those prevailing about ten years ago. And cheaper than ten years ago, in real terms corrected for inflation.

I wish that train and bus fares had been kept as cheap as petrol has been. Many bus and train fares have more than doubled in ten years whilst petrol and diesel are only slightly more expensive.

[cedd]

Our local venue has just purchased a pellet burning boiler. Venue manager reckons it's a fair chunk cheaper than gas, which was costing him £70 an hour to heat the place (big old Victorian building with cast iron radiators and very little zoning).

If you've got space to put the pellet silo then it's worth looking in to. It's supposedly greener too, although I still find the idea that burning anything could be classed as green a little odd! 

[Andrew C]

On 4/20/2022 at 9:38 AM, cedd said:

 it's worth looking in to.

Not according to our facilities manager.  He came on board after our large hall was refurbished.  He hates the pellet boilers with a passion.  I don't know why but he does.

[adam2]

Wood pellet fuel can be cheaper than gas, but wood pellet boilers are complex and have a poor record of reliability. I would consider it most unwise to be reliant on a wood pellet boiler without having a gas or oil boiler as a standby. 

If the wood pellets are produced locally, AND IF the wood used is from a sustainably managed forest, OR from trees that had to be cut down for other reasons, then the fuel is at least somewhat green, only somewhat though. The trees are almost certainly cut with petrol chainsaws, transported in diesel trucks, and probably processed into pellets with fossil fuel powered machinery. 

If the pellets are imported, then consider the fuel used in long distance transport, and the likely hood that virgin forest was destroyed, no matter how many green ticks and certificates are supplied.

Also the fuel is rather vulnerable to waste, pilferage, and diversion to alternative uses. Unlike mains gas.

Remember that the ash needs disposal, possibly at significant cost. Wood ash is in fact a useful fertilizer or soil additive, and could in my view by treated as a "secondary product" with a small sale value to gardeners or smallholders. But beware the elfansafety who declare it to be "waste" that needs proper disposal with a plethora of auditable paperwork to prove proper handling. Including waste transfer certificates, approved and registered vehicles for carrying waste, and the registration of premises as "waste transfer stations"

Edited May 4, 2022 by adam2

[adam2]

This continues to be a subject of great concern. It was today announced that the price cap on d0m3stic energy is likely to increase substantially in the Autumn to about £2,800 a year for an average consumer.

Whilst the capped d0m3stic price is of little DIRECT relevance to theatres and other venues, it is a good indication of the expected wholesale prices in coming months. 

I expect that non capped industrial and business prices will go still higher, probably permanently. It is in the nature of governments to say "things will soon get better" My view is that the era of cheap fossil fuel has ended, and that prices will go higher still.

Time to take energy saving seriously.

[themadhippy]

The bulk of the last increase wasnt an increase in the per unit charge,it was  the doubling of the daily standing charge

[adam2]

Gas prices remain very high, throughout Europe at a time of year when prices usually fall due to reduced demand.

The government in Germany have taken the next towards rationing of natural gas supplies. This is the second step out of three, with the final step being actual rationing.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61908998