Ofgem energy cap increase

We are in for a winter of discontent with both businesses and consumers backed into a corner with a necessity more than doubling in price. This isn’t an incremental rise, it’s more like a volcano erupting. This will skittle some businesses that simply can’t absorb the costs, and sadly they will be the same small businesses that were neglected during the pandemic. We have to look at why so much pressure has built in the system. But more than anything, I’m concerned about the mental toll and distress this will cause, as it’s not as easy to measure as a price cap but in our work it’s already becoming a priority concern and stressor for people struggling from a variety of walks of life. Energy bills don’t discriminate.

This could be the end. I’ve survived a pandemic, I’ve survived a post pandemic shift in shopping habits but today's news may just topple my business. My bills have already doubled from February to August, so just what do we do? I’m absolutely lost for words. The country is crumbling and on its knees. We really do need to keep local businesses going otherwise millions of people will be in severe financial difficulty.

This is just another dagger in the heart for small business owners. The crushing realisation that no matter what you do, your performance, sales, your deemed success will inevitably be out of your hands and instead controlled by the greedy corrupt few at the top who only care about profit. The reality is that those in power couldn't care less about small business owners so you're left to fend for yourself, and hope and pray that you make it through yet another avalanche of adversity.

We're all suffering from the unintended consequences of government meddling with the pricing of privately owned energy supplies. From 2019, the price of energy units has been capped in an attempt to stop consumers being ripped off. That sounds fine, but it means the short sighted, vote-winning policy has landed us with huge price spikes, rather than more gradual increases, which are easier to plan for. It's now vital that the Government provides the support that's needed to cushion consumers from these excruciating price increases. Maybe it's time for leaders to re-consider the sale of publicy-owned utility provision and properly embrace the UK's potential for hydro, wind, wave and tidal power.

We've noticed a rise in applications to our programme, Startup School for Seniors, supporting people to start a business, caused by many people's concerns about how they will pay their bills this winter. The money has to come from somewhere, and creating a side hustle is one way to try and fill an income gap.

This huge increase highlights our over-reliance on fossil fuels. We need a carbon net neutral, more resilient energy system. There is general lack of awareness of the wider benefits of more energy efficient homes. In addition to the temporary help with bills, the Government should phase out the cap altogether and provide support for people to finance green improvements to their homes and incentives for landlords.

The energy price cap has almost tripled already this year, with further hikes to come. Clearly, this is unsustainable. The case for expanding the windfall tax is now overwhelming. The £5 billion it's currently set to raise will barely touch the sides. And with the cost of renewable energy about a tenth of gas last week, the government needs to double down on wind and solar power. Mortgage affordability is going to become even tougher. I expect more lenders to decline deals that would have sailed through a year ago, down valuations to increase and property prices to fall sharply over the next year.

The impact on our non-profit could be catastrophic. We are an aquaponic farm and have to pump water and oxygen around the systems to keep the fish alive. This week, we will be working on the systems so we can reduce the number of pumps running. However, there will be a limit of how many times we can do this, with the survival of many fish at risk. The Government needs to act and act now.

Bottom line is, if you like baked products and want to continue to enjoy them from lovely local, artisan producers then you need to join to fight to do something about these energy rises. Otherwise, kiss goodbye to your favourite weekend treats.

It's catastrophic. The Government isn't just asleep at the wheel, it genuinely feels like they couldn't care less about the plight of normal people and businesses. They botched Brexit, they botched the response to COVID and now they're botching handling the cost of living crisis.

This is nothing short of catastrophic, which in fairness, I am rather resigned to due to our government. Calling it a "cap" is laughable. Just as when University fees came in, as soon as they were allowed to charge "up to 9k" per year, whoosh! Up they ALL went. Meddling in the prices levied by the energy companies is what has brought us to these spikes in the first place. I fear for the winter, and how many more will suffer from lack of food, or heat. And I don't know what the answer is. Maybe heavy investment in renewables, and retaining public ownership of such ventures, rather than selling off to some venture capitalist somewhere might be an idea? Won't do much right now, but it would at least be the start of a push that ought to have started in the Thatcher years, rather than chasing the next commodity sell off.

This will undoubtedly have an impact for consumers as we are not talking about a slight increase, we are talking about hundreds of pounds a month which will cause a squeeze for anybody. I expect to see a shift in how much consumers are able to borrow as lenders will no doubt adjust their affordability calculations. This will mean people cannot afford the houses they would like to buy and therefore demand for property is likely to fall. However, what we may also see is people being unable to afford their mortgages when their fixed deals end due to rising interest rates, which may cause people to look to sell and downsize.

Like everyone I will be hit personally by the increase. And I'm thankful that my business is home-based and so is not subject to the massive uncapped increases that small businesses with premises are being hit with. The impact of this for them will be far worse than what they experienced during the pandemic. On a more positive note, rising energy costs have prompted me to try to figure out why my electricity usage is so high and see if I can switch to more energy-efficient appliances. After using some energy monitoring devices, it turns out my 25 year old American fridge/freezer accounts for around 19% of my annual electricity consumption and costs the same to run as a friend's hot tub. Even if I spend £2,000 to replace the fridge, the new model will pay for itself in 2-3 years' time.

This is a simply ludicrous leap in prices. As a sole trader working from home, there is no additional support for energy bills so rises are a personal responsibility that will force us to raise our own prices and create lower entry products to win new clients. Our staff also work remotely and we are discussing how we can support them during this crisis.

As a small business owner who has done her best to keep her energy usage as low as possible and uses Green Energy both at home and in the shop, I am more concerned about my customers. I really cannot understand how the sun, wind and waves now cost more, that's how my electricity is supposed to be made for my shop and my home too. Here in South West London there is such a mixture of people living in a wide variety of types of accommodation. I know some of my customers will live in a new build, it'll be nice and insulated, I am aware that some new builds even have solar panels on the roofs. I am also aware that some customers will live in big old Victorian (or older) houses, which traditionally have sash windows that are not great for insulation. I will have customers who earn a lot of money and others who do not so the impact of the energy prices going up will vary a lot. As a small business owner of a shop on the High Road, I will continue to do what I can to keep my bills as low as possible, but with regards to my customers, I just do not know what will happen. As a shop on the High Road, I've already lost two lots of Christmas trade between official lockdowns and the unofficial one last year when so many people had Covid that hardly anyone was out and about shopping. I am ensuring that when I top up on stock, that I get in as many of the lower priced items as possible to be here along side the regular priced stock. I do not want customers to come in, want to buy a gift and get embarrassed that the items cost too much for them to spend. This shop is full of ethically made sustainable items, I would not be changing the shop from what it is all about, I just have things like smaller toys and more of a variety of items under £20 than I used to have.