The green Party - A Guest Post

A guest post from Joe Public. Thank you so much Joe.

The “green Party”  - unaware of the costs we would all have to pay for of its polices. [That’s ‘green’ as in 'inexperienced or naive’.]

On 13th September I emailed the Green Party asking "How much our current energy prices are inflated, to absorb the costs of subsidies to wind- and solar- subsidy-farms?”

After three reminders for even an acknowledgement, I finally received an answer on 23rd Oct.

The Greens' response was "About £4” (per year, per household), obtained from the headline of a year-old trade paper ‘Greenwise’ they provided as their source.

As their source was simply a trade magazine reporting a press release from a trade association [Renewable Energy Association (REA)], those of a sceptical nature would rightly be suspicious.

But that trade magazine report also included an addendum to the article which clearly stated "This story was changed at 14.37 on Wednesday October 23 2012 to clarify that renewables added £22 to the average household bill this year already. “

That part-year figure of £22 therefore therefore works out at £27 for a full year. So even at first sight, the Greens’ answer was underestimated by 575% (675% - 100%)

Now it gets interesting.

In fairness to the Greens, at the time of their response to me, I expect they were unaware of the latest press release from REA dated 23rd October 2013 which stated "Renewables policy makes up only 3% of average bills overall and only a third of the Government’s ‘green levies’….”

At March 2013, the ‘average' household energy bill is given as £1,267 on p78 of DECC’s "Estimated impacts of energy and climate change policies on energy prices and bills”

From the above, we can deduce that renewables policies add £38 (3% x £1,267) to bills. Now it appears that the Greens’ answer was underestimated by 850% (950% - 100%)

Now it gets really interesting.

In order to assess the commercial impact of subsidies, I specifically asked "How much our current energy prices are inflated to absorb the costs of subsidies”. The format of the answer provided (irrespective of its accuracy) was …………….. disingenuous. It may or may not factually correct, it is the preferred format of politicians & certain vested interests, but it doesn’t answer the question.

The use of a statement "…. added an extra £xx to household energy bills.” is only part of the picture, because it deliberately understates the true impact of 'green taxes’. 

The “House of Commons Energy and Climate Change Committee "Energy Prices, Profits and Poverty Fifth Report of Session 2013–14” (HoC 5th report) states on p59 that approximately two-thirds of energy costs fall on non-domestic consumers. However, the majority of their costs are then likely to be passed through to domestic consumers through higher prices for services and products. [I’ve included an image below, of part of the relevant para.]

Consequently every household pays both the direct extra cost of the energy, plus the extra cost of those same price rises on all UK goods and services bought in. A £100 increase in ‘household’ bill translates to about £160 increase in household costs, because you & I have to pay to heat and light and power all the factories, shops, pubs, offices, warehouses etc that provide the goods & services we buy in.

This means that the above £38 now becomes about £60. Now it appears that the Greens’ answer was underestimated by 1400% (1500% - 100%)

For Rosie’s Scottish-based readers, it is even worse. For comfort, Scotland & the UK primarily need heating (as opposed to a warm country which needs cooling for comfort). Data in the form of ‘Degree Days’ is used to compare both annual and regional temperatures. From this source I’ve compared 2012 20-year average Degree-Days for the ‘Midlands’ to provide guide to ‘average’ UK conditions, with NE Scotland to represent folk north of the border. You may not be surprised to have it confirmed you need about* 2568/2214 = +16% more heat than the rest of us. 

* There are many variables, and I’ll wager I’ve simplistically underestimated the effect of the northern climate - the greatest being the Degree-Day data is ‘only’ 15.5°C, whilst the CIBSE guide for comfort in living rooms is 21°C. Therefore the northern heating season is much longer than for southern folk.

So £60 now becomes £69. Now it appears that the Greens’ answer was underestimated by 1625% (1725% - 100%)

On 22nd October, Scottish Power was fined £8.5m because its sales agents misled competitors’ customers into switching supplier by (not necessarily deliberately) underestimating

the cost of power from them. I don’t know the relative percentages, but I’d be surprised if their underestimate was greater than 10%.

Political parties have a duty to present facts about their policies which impinge on everyone’s standard-of-living, with a reasonable degree of accuracy.

[I’m human, and collating data which is sometimes deliberately presented in obtuse forms may lead to some error. I’d welcome any reasonable correction or clarification of my method & rationale. ]

And now, what of the future?

The good news is that some politicians have woken up to the fact that the people who elect them are ‘price sensitive’. Some need reminding about the Office of National Statistics report that in winter 2011/12 (December – March) 22,800 people in England alone died from the effects of cold weather – this is a provisional figure, but is similar to figures for previous years. [Sorry, but I haven’t got the figures for Scotland - but they must be proportionately greater because it’s colder.]

The bad news is that HoC 5th report p59 (image below) also warns that whilst "DECC analysis suggests that energy and climate change policies make up approximately 9% (around £112) of the average annual dual fuel bill. However this is set to rise sharply in future years, with costs falling largely on the wholesale electricity price. DECC estimates that its policies will add (up) to 33% to the average electricity price paid by UK households in 2020 and 41% in 2030.” (my bold & underlining)

click to enlarge

Editor's Note: Apologies if the fonts vary on this post for some readers.  Unfortunately I can't fix it.

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Doom And Gloom

A post from Tedious Tantrums

Well that’s it then. Another BBC News at 6:00 and then BBC Scotland News. What fun.

Inflation is down. Comments were directed at it still being too high and the historical editorial was that interest rates should be put up. No sign of any cheer then, that inflation was going down. Not a glimmer. Good news? Not for the BBC apparently.

Then there was that happy soul and interesting character Ed Moribund. Ed thinks it’s a good idea that public sector pay rises are kept at 1%. His pals in the unions think this is an appalling idea. They would though because that’s their job. Ed reckons that a 1% increase means more people will be kept in work. He may well have a point, however; his party have spent the last few months rubbishing even the notion of a 1% pay restriction. Now he is agreeing with Call me Dave and Boy George Osborne. He’s also agreed with them about the union and they will jointly oppose the SNP notion that Scotland should leave the UK. That’s a lot of agreement between the government and the opposition. Not much cheer in this article on the BBC news either.

Oh well maybe the Scottish News will be chock-a-block with chuckles? Then again, perhaps not. Highland Council voted to oppose a wind farm in the Cairngorms. This isn’t good apparently. No real mention of how 31 wind turbines 360 feet high might be detrimental to the environment. Unsightly? Damaging to birds? Expensive to erect and run and producing the most expensive electricity possible.

The very next item , and this is hard to believe, covered Big Power Week. We have the power? No, but we have incredibly expensive electricity and gas. Big Power Week is being carried out by the Citizens Advise Bureau. They have advisors all over Scotland this week providing advice to the public so they can reduce their gas and electricity bills. Good idea.

There’s one bit of advice they could provide to people, well certain people who work in government like a Mr A Salmond, a Mr D Cameron, a Mr C Huhne and a Ms C Lucas amongst others. Remove the renewables levy from electricity bills saving everyone 20% on their bills immediately. That would ease household budgets and reduce inflation.

At least the Scottish News has a saving grace - the weather ladies. Thon wee Cubie lassie and Judith Ralston do a good job of presenting the weather news.

Which brings me to my final gripe. Who trains the BBC presenters in hand waving? Do they go to classes and learn how to develop waving and personalise the waving, gesturing and general wafting to match their personality? Just give us the news wave free please and try to keep it within balanced bounds. I know that is a big ask but we can only try eh?

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Utility Costs and Scams

Further to the Watchdog programme on Thursday night I thought the following email, which I received some weeks ago from John Souter, would be of interest.

The other day I had a thought on the costs and scams of the utilities and it occured to me it was diffecult to isolate and properly evaluate what these costs actually are.

For instance i believe these comparison sites are part of the scam - when you go on to them they always ask who you are already with and the amount you are charged/consume. They then come up with unqualified alternatives and non specific claims that by moving you 'could' save hundred per year.

They never quote specifics such as the cost per kilowatt - hour Electric day time is 15.189 pence/ Night 4.250 and Kilowatt - hour for Gas is 3.404. As it happens that is exactly what I'm charged by my supplier Utility Warehouse,but if I ask these comparison sites how these rate against the charges of the suppliers they recommend and will supposedly save me hundreds i get a deafening silence. And if I ring the recommended supplier direct the usual response is to baffle with bullshit such as direct debit payments/ amount of consumption/ fixed contracts ad nuaseum.

Another issue is the calculation of gas is subject to a fluctuating Volume Conversion Factor and Calorific Value/ we are told they exist and are subject to temprture and pressure conditions which we're told is calculated and applied as an oncost by the National Grid, but as individuals we have no way of knowing whether their effect on Cheshire is any different to say those in Perth?

We could be paying a stealth tax in these manipulations. If we can establish these factors cover comprehensively the UK it will simplify the comparison of individual supplier charges.


John suggested it would be interesting to see if VCF (Volume Conversion Figure) and CV (Calorific Value) varies throughout the UK which will allow simple and direct comparisons on suppliers.

I can add that in this part of Scotland we are restricted to suppliers so are therefore at a disadvantage before we begin price comparisons.

As Alex Salmond said in his speech at the SNP conference today:"We live in a land rich in oil and gas and with the prospective of being the leading renewable energy country in Europe, of not the world, yet we can't afford to help those who are unable to heat their homes."  It's a disgrace and all due to the Westminster government privatising utilities.  As he mentioned, thankfully Scotland's water is still in our government's hands.

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Lessons We Could Learn From Our Entente Cordiale Partners

The Entente Cordiale is over 100 years old and was commonly thought to be a formal agreement between France and Britain although that was questioned as early as 1911:

The fundamental fact of course is that the Entente is not an alliance. For purposes of ultimate emergencies it may be found to have no substance at all. For the Entente is nothing more than a frame of mind, a view of general policy which is shared by the governments of two countries, but which may be, or become, so vague as to lose all content.


In recent years I've heard people of many political persuasions mention the Entente Cordiale, more in the context of a gentleman's agreement, when discussing European politics or policies yet I know, from living in England for many years, there is little love lost between the French and English.

The Scots tend to be less vocal, although when I mentioned to a friend I intended to write about France she said, "Don't forget to include the wonderful Onion Johnnies." She has happy memories of these French farmers cycling round the streets of Manchester - her home town - with big red onions dangling round their necks and speaking English with an alluring French accent.  I didn't disillusion her with my recollections of Onion Johnnies in Dundee. No red onions there (we had white) and no charming broken English. They spoke Scots and nobody seemed to care because their onions were a good price and quality.

Today, gas and electricity is a standard quality but prices vary wildly throughout Europe. The UK has just been informed of a massive second price increase for this year alone.

The French haven't had any increases this year and there is to be no gas increase says Sarkozy.  Their publicly owned electricity supplier has had its wings clipped by the government to a mere 1.7% rise this month and a further 1.2% rise next summer. The state run EDF requested annual increases of 5.1% for the next four years to take into account needed investments to upgrade France's 58 nuclear reactors.

Why can't the UK government take some lessons from our Entente Cordiale partners about controlling utility prices?  Because in the 90s the government sold off our publicly owned companies to the highest bidder and most are now under foreign ownership.

A few weeks ago politicians were raging about the excessive increases which will be foisted upon us this winter, but quickly forgot about the distress and health risks to the vulnerable, when it seemed likely that Murdoch would spill the beans on their behaviour.  Now Westminster is closed for business until September, when it sits for only 9 days before the Conference recess, after which it returns on 11 October. Ofgem are to probe Scottish Power's price rise; a fruitless task because we already know the outcome. Once Ofgem publishes their report the other 5 big energy companies (including the French EDF which also supplies the UK) will announce similar rises.

It's reported Sarkozy hopes his strong stance with his country's utility suppliers will deflect criticism that he is not protecting consumers' purchasing power.

Who protects our purchasing power?  It's time we had a look over the channel and acquired some hints and tips from our Entente Cordiale partners on how to express our anger. Thousands of vulnerable people will die this winter because they can't afford fuel bills.  Are we happy to allow that to happen without loud public protest?

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Forecast: A Cold, Cold Winter

The Scottish Power announcement of a 19% rise in gas and a 10% rise in electricity must have stunned householders across the country yesterday.  It did me because I know my own supplier will follow suit. The knock-on effect of this rise will be felt by most of the population and we're told there are more rises to follow.

The video shows an interesting graph.  The utility companies blame rises in wholesale prices for the steep increases yet, if you observe the blue line, you will note that it's only very recently wholesale prices have risen.

Will the Westminster government take action against such a drastic increase in the cost of living?  Edward sent me a copy of a letter, published yesterday in his local paper, because he "thought others might appreciate the vision of our elected representatives.  There seems to be no trace of irony in it."

The article is reproduced accurately. It's timing is impeccable at least. The photograph is my idea. Apologies but I couldn't find one of Ms Latham in Cloud Cuckoo Land so the rolling hills of Derbyshire will have to suffice.

Derby Telegraph 6 June 2011

MP LATHAM PREDICTS LOWER BILLS AFTER A “DRAMATIC CHANGE” IN ENERGY POLICY

A DERBYSHIRE MP has praised campaigners for continuing to draw attantion to climate change issues.

Mid Derbyshire MP Pauline Latham spoke at a rally organised by the Derby Climate Change Coalition.

It focused on a new bill going through Parliament designed to improve the supply of energy efficiency measures to homes and businesses and reduce carbon emissions across the county.

Conservative MP Mrs Latham said:”I am pleased I had the opportunity to talk about climate change and the positive steps the Energy Bill proposes.

“Having championed green issues as the Mayor of Derby, I am glad the Climate Change Coalition continues to draw attention to this important issue.

“Following the speeches and lively question and answer sessions at the rally I hope those who attended were reassured that the Energy Bill will kick start a dramatic change in Britain's energy policy by cutting carbon emissions and helping to lower household energy bills.”

Labour MP Chris Williamson, who represents Derby North, also spoke at the event, held at the Joseph Wright Centre in Derby.

He said that city firms could benefit from the bill and cited innovative work being carried out by Rolls Royce in civil nuclear fields.

Dozens of people attended the meetin and also listened to speeches by Paddy Tipping, the former MP for Sherwood and national vice president of the Ramblers' Association.

He wants to see a billion hectares of woodland planted in the UK over then next ten years.

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