Energy prices set to rise 40%. Maybe we should make an effort to save the planet after all…
So it looks like, in a round about way at least, we’ll all be getting very concerned about our Carbon footprints in the coming months. Not because of those slick adverts on the telly (excuse the pun) like the one below, but because energy prices look set to rise by as much as 40%. It must be true, because the energy companies themselves say so, and with some of them enjoying profits of more than £500m a year they can afford to employ people who know these things.
Really, it’s not good news. The average household energy bill has already risen to £1,050 this year, and that’s only a 15% rise – this latest news means that Mr & Mrs Average will be paying more than £1,400 to stay warm. Obviously, it’s all to do with the wholesale price of oil, gas and coal, but it’ll be interesting to see what kind of profit they all make next year…
But what can we all do about it, I mean as well as cultivating a deep seated sense of injustice at once again being asked to pay more to protect the profits of already rich suppliers? Well, my first reaction was to scuttle round the house making sure the lights and radiators were all off in a futile and reactionary attempt to ‘manage consumption’. Well that lasted just about until the kids came home from school when, once again, the house was transformed into a beacon of wasted electricity.
Of course, once I got over that particular knee-jerk reaction, I remembered that turning the thermostat down and switching to ‘Hot water only’ (It is the summer after all) was a far more sensible option – though it did make for a rather cold breakfast time the next morning.
There’s an important point in all that. There is absolutely nothing we can do about the rising prices, so we can either watch as the payments go up, or consume less. Which brings me back to those adverts from the nice people at DEFRA and their ACT ON CO2 campaign…
There is loads of advice and help available to anyone keen to cut their household energy consumption, and I for one am suddenly rather more interested in trying them out.
A good place to start is with the ACT ON CO2 Carbon Footprint calculator. I tried it out expecting it to be cumbersome, time consuming and ultimately not very good, but was pleasantly surprised. It took about 10 minutes to complete, then spat out a summary of my carbon emissions and an action plan detailing the steps I could take to reduce them. Of course, all those steps will also help to keep my energy (and fuel) bills down.
At the end of the day, most of us have been spoilt with access to cheap energy for a long time and really haven’t given a second thought to how much we waste. If that changes because waste starts to hit us in the pocket, maybe it’s not such a bad thing – when you look at the bigger picture.
Lucky seven? Not really.
Last week’s entry on the state of the two-year fixed mortgage went out of date rather quickly. Those ten year high rates of 6.75% look like being just the start. The average has already reached 7% and it looks like more rises are still to come.
Still, it could be worse. Pity the tooth fairy, for whom inflation really is a kick in the teeth. According to recent research, the winged one has seen the price of raw materials (teeth) rise by 16% in the last year, and 258% over the last 25 years. That means the average child nets a cool £6.80 for a full set, and together they pull in more than £20m a year. Who said British manufacturing was in decline?
