“If you are on a fixed tariff, chances are you were paying over the odds at the time you agreed to start, in the hope to delay any future increase.”
I wasn’t. Mine (with EDF) was by far and away the cheapest tariff available when I took out my fixed deal last October and it is still among the cheapest now. A large chunk of energy price rises are imposed by the government to fund the ridiculous (so-called) green schemes it advocates. Among these is the conversion of Drax power station in Yorkshire to burn wood chips instead of coal. A less efficient use of a fine power station would be difficult to devise and convincing consumers that burning wood chips instead of coal is somehow “greener” must rate as one of the most dishonest marketing ploys since Nike persuaded people to buy “trainers” to go down the pub for a pint of Carlsberg.
Prices are also increasing to recoup the cost (£11bn and counting) of installing the “smart” meters that many people are raving about:
“I look at my handset every so often and it tells me how much i am using per day, week, in pounds, shillings and pence.”
And how does that help, emmie?. Presumably you don’t use energy unnecessarily so does knowing how much you have spent encourage you to turn things off?
There is nothing complex about calculating energy bills and nothing useful that a Smart meter can do that you cannot do yourself. Furthermore if, like me, you change your supplier regularly, with the current technology you will have to have your meter changed every time you change supplier. There is no need for anybody to receive estimated bills as all energy companies make provisions for regular meter readings to be supplied either online or by phone. I have not had an estimated bill for about twenty years or more.