
SteveJ
1.4K posts

SteveJ
@SteveJ460845
Retired Fire Officer & former Emergency Planning Officer. Living the dream in wonderful Wirksworth, Derbyshire.



The Reform UK party's former leader in Wales - Nathan Gill - has pleaded guilty to eight counts of bribery relating to pro-Russia statements he made in the European Parliament, as well as newspaper opinion pieces.








The Price Cap to fall 7% on 1 July (though it's still a Pants Cap). What it means & the new rates... Today’s announcement that the Price Cap is to fall by 7%, is welcome, but nothing to shout home about. All this really does is reverse April's rise so it's back to roughly the cost at the start of the year. Crucially energy bills this July will still be 10% higher than at the same time last year. What is the new cap? Here are the new July average Direct Debit rates (prepay is slightly less, pay in receipt of bills more). Though it varies by region. ELECTRICITY Standing charge 51.37p/day (now 53.8p) down 4.5% Unit rate 25.73p/kWh (now 27.03p) down 4.8% GAS Standing charge: 29.82p/day (now 32.67p)down 8.7% Unit rate: 6.33p/kWh (now 6.99p) down 9.4% In simple terms it means for every £100 you pay for energy now, in July, August & September you will typically pay roughly £93.00. As the cut is on both unit rate and standing charges, this time the impact is pretty uniform for lower and higher users, though those with gas will typically see more of a fall, as its price is falling more than electricity. The Cap is still a pants cap Compare these falls to the cheapest fixes on the market today, which are 18% below the current Cap, showing the Price Cap is a Pants Cap. It was only ever meant to be a back-stop tariff for those unable to switch, yet during the energy crisis it effectively became a regulated price, and still today, 65% of homes are on tariffs dictated by the Cap. For all but those on pre-payment meters, where sadly there’s little choice, I’d urge people to get off the Cap, use a whole-of-market comparison site, like CheapEnergyClub.com to find their cheapest fix. That will instantly cut bills, without any need to wait until July, and if analysts' current Price Cap predictions prove true, would substantially undercut the Cap in every period for the next year. Our recent analysis shows, that at every point over the last twelve months, grabbing the cheapest fix on the market would’ve saved you substantially over the Price Cap. Beware when comparing beware savings figures are now OVERINFLATED While I'm urge those of you on the Price Cap to do a comparison right now, as savings are potentially large, but it’s important to be aware that comparison sites will currently show your savings compared to the current Price Cap (as firms new tariffs aren't published yet), not the one it’ll drop to in July. That means savings will be exaggerated by 7%, and you need to factor that into your calculations.













