The government has published this UK gas supply explainer.
There has recently been widespread media coverage of wholesale gas prices, and the effect this could have on household energy bills. The impact on certain areas of industry, and its ability to continue production, has also attracted attention.
This explainer sets out the background to the issue and the action the government is taking to protect the UK’s energy supply, industry, and consumers.
Natural gas prices have been steadily rising across the globe this year for a number of reasons. This has affected Europe, including the UK, as well as other countries around the world.
Later, the author of the “explainer” reassures us consumers that energy prices may not go up as much as one might expect:
The high wholesale gas prices that are currently visible may not be the actual prices being paid by all consumers.
This is because major energy suppliers purchase much of their wholesale supplies many months in advance, giving protection to them and their customers from short-term price spikes.
The Energy Price Cap is also in place to protect millions of customers from the sudden increases in global gas prices this winter. Despite the rising costs of wholesale energy, the cap still saves 15 million households up to £100 a year.
Isn’t it nice that the government protects consumers by stopping energy firms passing on price rises?
Completely unrelated: Four more small energy firms could go bust next week, the BBC reports.
Some of you may remember that the Bishop Hill blog used to cover climate and energy issues in a moderate and well-informed way. Unless I missed the announcement of a move, that blog does not seem to have been active since 2019. However I recently found that the Bishop is on Twitter, one of the few reasons left to visit that horrible place.
Oh, thank you! I’ve missed him.
I can get “price protection” for #2 home heating oil (same as Diesel fuel) ONLY if I “opt in” with the local distributor for the whole heating season early on, when local distributors are making THEIR bulk futures contracts.
There is the small matter of a trillion cubic feet of natural gas which can be fracked beneath Lancashire, but will not be, because net zero and Boris is a twat.
The energy industry in this country is a mess of “Green” taxes and regulations.
Green taxes, does that include the landfill tax that leads us to send our trash off to the third world to be recycled? Meaning that it gets recycled by being tipped into the nearest river. Meaning that the greens can now get all self righteous about all the plastic in the sea and getting washed up on beaches.
When 6% of UK power is provided by a so-called green power station which burns over 7.5 million tons of biomass annually, almost all of which is shipped over from the US and Canada, the utter hypocrisy of our energy policy is hard for any rational person to ignore.
Sadly our politicians, scientists and media are perfectly fine with it.
Power Markets in Crisis:
DBEIS: “Current prices reflect a number of factors including:”
Carbon prices? What carbon prices? Renewable subsidies? Never ‘eard of ’em, mate. ‘S all them Asians buyin’ up the LNG, innit? ‘Ere, ‘ave a pony. Cold Weather Payment. Buy summink nice. An’ don’t say we never do nuffink for yer.
“Meaning that it gets recycled by being tipped into the nearest river.”
After being shipped halfway across the world in big ships burning diesel. Food miles, bad; garbage miles… look, a squirrel!
Natalie, you may know that Andrew Montford (aka Bishop Hill) has for a while been Deputy Director of the Global Warming Policy Forum (GWPF). https://www.thegwpf.com/
I suspect that while his blog was widely read and highly respected, he felt that he could have more impact by being part of a think tank. The GWPF, underpinned by an impressive advisory board of scientists and others, including (Lord) Nick Ridley, continues to do sterling work to rebut the absurdities of the climate change groupthink.
Just a thought for the left…. With their desire to close down all these coal plants, doesn’t that show that Thatcher’s policies in the 1980s were really quite prescient?