Should the goverment step in and put controls on the increasing cost of electric prices and bring them down?

Question

The cost keeps spiraling month after month I am going to start a campaign agains it, I would like as many e mails as possible to send to Tony Blair and press for change in the label of rip off britain, join my fight and e mail me your protests I will contact mr Blair and fight for the right to fair prices. if everyone in the country switches off their electric for 1 day a month they may get the message, I am switching mine off completely tomorrow, I will eat out of a chip shop or mac Ds and visit a friend for a while. It is time to fight back I say, what is your views on this

Answer 1

How can they step in when there is a global power shortage. We have little control over what our European and Russian suppliers dictate. What should be asked is where did all that profit from 'our' North Sea oil and gas reserves go?

Answer 2

Price controls only work in the short term. In the long term they force prices up. Think about - if you were an energy producer with money invested (and therefore at risk with a reduced return) and overheads rising (due to inflation) and your return was restricted - would you invest more in your business?

Most savvy people would not - which means less investment in electricity generating and infrastructure and ultimately a reduction in supply despite an increasing demand.

Supply verse demand dictates prices in the real world - so like it or not you will ultimately force u prices for a short term 'advantage'.

To reduce these costs perhaps you should lobby for government subsidies - and get them to stop 'printing' USD in excess because that is part of the problem - a reduction in the value of your money through inflation which results in higher prices.

Answer 3

Yes it costs more than it did, but it's still incredibly cheap for what it is. We need to appreciate it more, then we will be happier paying. At the chip shop, for a pound you will get a heap of chips that you can eat in 10 minutes. What's the margin on that? You can buy that much potato for about a penny round here. But a pound's worth of electricity is nigh on 10 kilowatt hours at daytime rates, or a whopping 30 kilowatt hours at nighttime rates, think what you can do with that. Examples - a week watching TV or using your computer or cooking all your meals or having a hot shower every day. I'd be happy to pay double or quadruple for electricity. It's the racketeers selling prepared/packaged food and drink that need to be brought to book.

Answer 4

Most of the electric is generated by fossil fuels and the costs of labor and the major investments of the oil companies is vast...hundreds of millions of dollars and the cost of environment protection is escalating and the supplies of fossil fuels is decreasing requiring extensive exploration. People only see a small tip of the problem, but extensive training facilities, repeated safety checks, government controls, sanitation, health programs, qualification of hospitals and clinics, deep diving equipment, tenders, safety ships, elaborate computers and software soon add up to a huge amount. In China the government also require schools, housing, hospitals, recreational facilities, libraries and free transportation of workers and families. So enjoy the cheap price while it lasts....it's not going to last for long.

Answer 5

The rising cost of powering a home is mental! The electricity generating stations were nearly all converted from coal or oil fired to gas-fired, and now gas prices have risen world-wide, so not only is domestic gas dear, but the power company has to pay more, to buy the gas to burn to make electricity. We, the consumer, are at the bottom, and crap rolls downhill!

Answer 6

No. I don't think Blair can do a thing about rising prices. Its a global trend and regulating prices will only distort the market, place Britain at a competitive disadvantage and potentially make the problem worse. Have you researched solar energy?

Answer 7

I think we should re-open all the coal mines that were closed in the 80's and start manufacturing coal gas again. The problems we face today are because of the high cost of imported oil and natural gas - the suppliers have got us over a barrel and we need to return to self sufficiency.

Answer 8

I agree with you 100%.
Prices rise all the time for all of our everyday essentials not just electricity, so why not bombard the prime minister with e-mails about every price rise.
It's a great idea but nobody will listen as long as they keep getting their huge salaries do you think they really care

Answer 9

So then, how will the power company buy the fuel needed to produce the power?

So your way to fight back is to eat unhealthy fast food and leech off a friend. Jeez, how pathetic.

Answer 10

The short answer is YES. They can do it but as the companies pay to keep them in their seets, it's not likely to happen. Yet I remember the gvmt did step in recently with one of these companies.
Who pays for the companies gas and electricity bills?