Energy Price Time Bomb

No matter your personal and financial circumstances, it’s hard not to be concerned about the sky rocketing cost of energy in the UK at the moment. 

Actually, scrap that. It’s hard not to be worried about the cost of pretty much everything in the UK right now. Overnight, we seem to be facing the very real prospect of our elderly quite literally sat in the cold and entire families struggling to decide whether to take a shower or cook a meal – because affording the luxury of both, just won’t be an option for many at the rate we’re going. 

At the moment all is still ‘generally’ calm. The majority of people won’t be seeing the full picture or the magnitude of the crisis that is looming…yet. For instance, people that are locked in a deal won’t see any change in their energy outgoings for the time being and these people will blissfully continue with their lives. Great. Fantastic, Happy days. However, there’s no doubting when their fixed deal ends, they will struggle to land a deal as cheap as the one they’re in currently. That’s when people will really start to see the proverbial hitting the fan. 

There are some, however, who are already feeling the enormity of the energy burden that is steam rolling its way to the masses. These people are the ones whose energy suppliers have already gone bust, and in the blink of an eye these same individuals are now expected to stump up - in many cases - almost double what they were paying only a couple of months ago, with absolutely no say about which provider they’re being lumbered with either. 

Oh, and if those aforementioned people were in credit with their old supplier and are expecting those funds to be transferred to the new provider – they need to think again – that’s gone too. 

The fact of the matter is though, whether you’re locked in at the minute or not, this crisis isn’t going anywhere fast. It’s a global issue. Although, just to really rub salt into the wounds, it doesn’t help that we have an incompetent government who are constantly walking around in a Covid obsessed daze and other countries, already rich in supplies, who are excitedly waiting to watch Britain beg. We should never be in this situation. 

But our over reliance on other countries and the general dire state of our nation is a discussion for another day. 

It is expected that by April of this year the price cap will increase again and that could be by up to thirty per cent if you take heed of the experts. Terrifying. 

The story goes that there is a global squeeze on energy supplies which naturally pushes prices up. A cold winter in Europe last year also saw stored gas supplies used meaning that they are now low. There are many other factors at play but the basic theme is that demand is high meaning prices are rising steeply. End of story. European countries seem to be bearing the brunt of the energy crisis. 

Not a lot at the moment. It’s a global issue and prices are going up. Full stop.

The only thing left to do to make sure we get through the winter unscathed is use a bit of common sense and really tighten up the things that we are still in control of. 

Installing and using smart technology can really help. Whilst many are still in the mindset that they are gimmicky, installing a smart thermostat can ensure heating isn’t used unnecessarily and is only on as and when needed. People who embrace this technology will all admit to seeing a reduction in bills. 

 Make sure there are no gaping holes in things like windows and doors and restrict the family to shorter showers etc. It sounds straight forward but that’s because it is and is the only thing that we can control at the moment. These little things are all worth doing if we don’t want to penalized anymore than we already are being.