Green Energy Scene

Energy Tariffs Clarity Proposal

Energy watchdog, Ofgem, have announced that there are to be a fresh set of reforms when it comes to energy tariffs. 

Companies are being forced into informing their customers about which of their tariffs are cheaper and are looking to limit the amount of tariffs that are to be available to them, limiting the confusion when choosing a tariff. 

The Prime Minister David Cameron has out his political weight behind the plans also, claiming the law should be changed so that energy suppliers automatically put people on the lowest tariff on their supply.  Ofgems’s proposals included:

• Energy suppliers to offer no more than four tariffs per fuel
• Tariffs that are no longer available will be barred
• Fix term deals will not be subject to price increases or any other changes
• Vulnerable customers who have remained with the same supplier for a long time will be sent an estimate on the cheapest tariff across the entire energy marketplace

These changes will ensure that customers, vulnerable and otherwise, will get the best and cheapest possible deal available to them from their supplier.  In addition to this Ofgem would like to see more tools available to help consumers switch their energy supplier quickly and efficiently.

It is thought that due to the numbers of tariffs that were available only one in 10 people were able to find the cheapest deal for their energy supply.  Ofgem were able to come to these proposals by speaking to many customers up and down the country who were able to express their dissatisfaction with their respective suppliers.

If you have any issues regarding tariffs or having trouble with an energy supplier then you should contact Ofgem who are independently regulated.

 

Renewable Energy: The Missing Link

What do we do when there is too much power being produced by renewable energy sources?  Well, here we have included a link from educational website TED.  Here the guest speaker is Donald Sadoway who, in this insprational talk, discusses about how to store energy when the sun isn't shining or when the wind isn't blowing.  Donald has been working on grid-sized battery system using a three-layer liquid-metal core. 

 

BBC debate on future UK energy mix

There was an interesting debate on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme this morning, discussing how energy policy in the UK should evolve in the years ahead. The debate between James Vaccaro, of Triodos Renewables, and Malcolm Webb, chief executive of Oil and Gas UK covers whether fossil fuels will have to make up part of the energy mix in the UK in the years ahead - and what this might mean for energy bills.

Listen to the debate here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9758000/9758683.stm

Dual Fuel Decisions

The term dual fuel means that you get your gas and electricity from the same energy provider. So for instance if you get a bill for electricity from one energy supplier and a bill for your gas from a different one, then you would not be on a dual fuel contract.

Is there a difference between dual fuel and single fuel?

As far as you’re concerned, there is little to no difference between having a dual fuel or single fuel package. That being said, a lot of people prefer to have a dual fuel because of the benefits that are often included.

So what are the benefits of dual fuel?

Dual fuel is the package all energy suppliers want you to take and they try to incentivise so you do. Here are some of the most common benefits:

• 9 times out of ten dual fuel will be cheaper than any other packages. The majority of energy suppliers will offer what’s commonly known as a dual fuel discount. So if you sign up for dual fuel with them you will be entitled to either a monthly or annual discount applied straight to your energy bills.
• Many people take out dual fuel purely for convenience. All your bills will be from the one company, and some suppliers may even offer a combined bill to make things even simpler.
• You only need to phone one company. Whether it’s complaints, queries or even if you just need help, it means you only have to deal with one supplier instead of two.

How easy is it to switch?

It really is straightforward. The first thing to do is run a quick comparison for your area, so you can see how much you would save by taking dual fuel. Now the good news is you don't have to switch to one of your current suppliers, you can either switch one or both of your fuels if it works out cheaper. All you need to do now is just apply to switch to your new supplier and the actual switching-over part will all be done for you.

Is dual fuel always the cheaper option?

Because of the discounts offered with these deals it will usually mean that dual fuel will be the cheaper option, so when you add that to the bonus of only having one energy call centre it comes out as a good deal. 

UK Government Energy Consumption statistics

To the delight of all energy geeks (such as ourselves), the UK government have released a goldmine of information for us to get our teeth into. Yes, the annual 'Energy consumption in the United Kingdom’ (ECUK) statistics have been published.  ECUK is a National Statistics publication that looks at UK energy use trends and extrapolates a picture of where the country is at in terms of energy use. 

The report is broken down into 5 seperate chapters, each focussing on a different sector:

• CHAPTER 1: OVERALL ENERGY CONSUMPTION IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
• CHAPTER 2: TRANSPORT SECTOR
• CHAPTER 3: DOMESTIC SECTOR
• CHAPTER 4: INDUSTRIAL SECTOR
• CHAPTER 5: SERVICES SECTOR

Helpfully, each section is avalailable in an Excel format with summarising PDF files which explain the meaning behind the numbers.

For example, the graph below illustrates the total primary energy consumption by fuel, UK, 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000 and 2011 - we can see the decline of Solid Fuels, the rise of Gas and Electricity and the recent emergence of Bioenergy. 

Anyway the reports are chock full of interesting data such as this. Well worth a study we think you'll agree.

They can all be downloaded from here: http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/statistics/publications/ecuk/ecuk.aspx