The UK energy regulator, OFGEM, is likely to increase prices by yet another 5% (on top of the recent 10% plus 4% increase ) These are TAXES – so is the increase in NI coming in 40 days.
PETER HALLIGAN
From here:
Households expect to learn that energy bills will rise again | Express & Star
“Millions of households will find out on Tuesday about an expected rise in their energy bills from April, as regulators announce new prices for the spring and early summer months.
Watchdog Ofgem will announce the new energy price cap for April until July, as experts forecast bills will rise by about 5% compared with what they are currently.”
“Last week, forecasting group Cornwall Insights said it expects the typical annual household energy bill will rise by about £85 to £1,823.”
The reason?
“The expected rise is because of an increase in gas prices across Europe, caused by a slump in the amount of gas that is held in storage across the continent.”
From Brave AI:
“Proponents of fracking have claimed that the UK’s shale gas reserves could meet the country’s gas demand for decades. For instance, Cuadrilla has suggested that just 10% of the gas from shale deposits in Lancashire and surrounding areas could supply 50 years’ worth of current UK gas demand.”
Maybe there’s a bunch more under the Irish Sea or in other places in the United Kingdom – who knows? It is a taboo topic. Suffice to say, the government sets policy for shutting down “fossil fuels” and has set up a “regulator” to set a “price cap” that is based on the mandated “renewable energy” and imported gas and oil.
Bottom line? The UK’s war on hydrocarbons by the net zero freaks means that the UK will IMPORT the very natural gas that it has in abundance AND pay higher prices for the privilege – and so will jack up energy prices because of external supply/demand factors.
A reminder. The energy regulator does not set a “cap” on prices based on the cheapest source of energy. It takes the estimated prices for the current mix of energy suppliers (all those ugly and expensive wind turbines and solar panels – and imports via “interconnectors” for French nuclear – net of all those cheap and abundant hydrocarbon fuels like gas, oil and coal) and bases the “cap” on that.
The energy policy of this and past UK governments plus the actions of the regulator, OFGEM, make these energy price increases A TAX.
The same evil, perverted logic is about to start in 40 days – the hike in employers national insurance charges with the “floor” at which national insurance applies dropped from £9,100 to £5,000 AND the rat hiked from 13.8& to 15%. This means that the cost per employee is an additional £610 AND the rate for the balance also increases by that 1.2%,
Every employer must pay this (the minimum wage has gone up to!) ad will either have to increase prices to maintain profits or reduce staff.
The public sector also has to pay the increase. The National Health Service employs 1.5 million people – costing ONE BILLION POUNDS A YEAR (9,100 – 5,100) x 15% x 1.5 million PLUS THE EXTRA 1.2% = 1.5 million times say 50,000 average times the extra 1,2% – another 900 million pounds for a total of an extra 1,9 billion pounds – call it 2 billion pounds,
The UK has around 550,000 civil servants – an extra 338 million before the extra 1.2%.
Maybe the hikes in national insurance for government employees is “a circular firing squad” – in one pocket and out the other, but 317 local authorities have raised local taxes to compensate.
Local government employs around 2 million people – another few billion A YEAR in costs. Does this number of local authority employees include NHS employees#? I do not know.
The Chancellorette of the Exchequer – Rachel from Accounts – is deluded if she thinks that the British people are not being taxed – only employers. What goes around comes around.
The corporate and self-employed sector faces a removal of over 20 billion pounds in profits – they will adjust by reducing staff or increasing prices or both, just as local authorities are being forced to do.
This is th first order impact of the massive tax increase on employers.
The next stage is the costs of rising unemployment and the demand for higher wages and salaries to compensate for the drop in the standard of living from increased energy coasts and local authority tax increases. SRIKES and civil unrest – just like the 1970’s. Tax and spend – rather than don’t tax and don’t spend.
I would say that Rachel from Accounts is as dumb as a box of rocks – but that would an insult to the rocks – and the box.
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This article (The UK energy regulator, OFGEM, is likely to increase prices by yet another 5% (on top of the recent 10% plus 4% increase ) These are TAXES – so is the increase in NI coming in 40 days.) was created and published by Peter Halligan and is republished here under “Fair Use”
See Related Article Below
Net Zero Is Turning Britain Into A Complete Cipher: Sans Aluminum, Sans Steel, Sans Everything, All to Be Green
Guest Post from the Institute for Energy Research.
According to the leader of the UK Reform Party, Nigel Farage, Trump’s tariffs on aluminum and steel will not hurt Britain very much because its entire aluminum industry is gone, and there is very little steel left.
Net-Zero targets are the primary reason for the deindustrialization of Britain because its electricity prices for industry are between five and six times higher than those in America. Farage calls the slogan that renewables are cheaper a great lie. He says the cost of renewables plus backup must be more than that of backup.
The backup is needed because sometimes the wind does not blow, and the sun does not shine. His deputy, Richard Tice, has said, “Net Zero is without question the greatest act of self-harm ever imposed on the nation by the people in Westminster. It’s killing jobs, whether it’s in the car industry, the oil and gas industry, the steel industry, or the chemicals industry, the truth is that decarbonization does mean deindustrialization.”
To correct the problem, Nigel Farage vowed that if elected, he would do away with the disastrous Net-Zero green agenda and place a windfall tax on the so-called renewables sector, which is similar to the windfall profit tax levied on North Sea oil and gas production by ruling parties in the UK.
His reform agenda includes scrapping Net Zero policies, making energy prices competitive, and lowering the cost of living for average Britons. He intends to add a windfall tax to solar and wind firms to recoup the massive subsidies they received.
Farage asserted that the “endless” subsidies handed out by London to often foreign renewable energy firms had a direct link to the cost of energy soaring in Britain. To subsidize the industry, the UK government has spent around £100 billion ($126 billion) on subsidies for green energy projects, which equates to around £3,500 per household.
In addition to a windfall tax, the Reform party would put an end to farmland being used for green projects, citing its limited quantity. The Reform party would also mandate all energy pylon cables to be put underground as a cost-effective measure that preserves scenic views.
Large-scale battery energy storage systems, often built next to solar farms, would be banned under a Reform government until they can be proven “absolutely safe.” Tice claimed that the renewables sector lacks“responsibility and accountability for the safety standards and regulations” on these storage systems.
A fire at the Moss Landing Power Plant in California, one of the world’s largest battery energy storage facilities, contaminated the air, soil, and water in the surrounding areas with heavy metals. According to the New York Times, heavy metals detected in the soil have health implications for the local county’s agriculture industry and the workers who pick the produce.
In the United States, the Democrat-passed climate bill, the Inflation Reduction Act, is providing massive subsidies for wind and solar power and storage batteries, which would not be economical without them, and grants and loans to “clean energy” companies.
While subsidies are meant to get new technologies off the ground, wind and solar power have received these subsidies for decades.
The Inflation Reduction Act was initially estimated to cost $369 billion but is now expected to run over $1 trillion as the lucrative subsidies are uncapped. Besides these handouts, the Biden administration also placed onerous regulations and efficiency standards on traditional technologies to promote its climate agenda with more wind turbines, solar panels, and electric vehicles.
President Trump and his energy team have a massive task to change Biden’s policies and make American energy abundant, affordable, and reliable again.
Conclusion
It looks like the UK’s Reform Party leader, Nigel Farage, will put the United Kingdom first as President Trump is doing for the United States, instituting logical reforms and making the UK energy sector affordable again. Without those reforms, the UK will continue with its high energy prices, increasing the energy poverty of its residents and the deindustrialization of its industries.
The Biden administration’s rules and regulations, forcing net zero policies on Americans to fulfill a commitment to the Paris climate accord, raised energy prices for Americans and needlessly spent taxpayer funds on massive energy-related subsidies and “clean energy” grants and loans for firms that are having trouble staying afloat.
SOURCE: Energy Security and Freedom
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