Ofgem, the energy market regulator, is increasing its price cap on domestic customer bills by 5% from 1 January 2024, effective for the first quarter of the year.The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show inflation running at 4.6% in October. The move will add 1.4 million homes to Octopus’s books, extending its reach to nearly 6.5 million UK households. The deal also includes the adoption of 500,000 broadband customers.

Analyst Cornwall Insight’s latest predictions suggest the Ofgem cap will be updated as follows, for a typical household per year: It is important that customers are supported and we have made clear to suppliers that we expect them to identify and offer help to those who are struggling with bills. Pre-pay customers are currently subsidised through the government’s Energy Price Guarantee, but that support is due to end in March 2024. Ofgem says it is working on a replacement for the scheme. Dame Clare Moriarty, chief executive of charity Citizens Advice, said: “Even before winter hits we’re helping more people who can’t keep up with their energy bills than ever before. Worryingly, more households are running up energy debts during the warmer months, with some having to borrow money to try and keep the lights on. Cornwall Insight, the energy market analyst, is forecasting that the Ofgem price cap will fall further than first predicted when it is revised in October, writes Candiece Cyrus.The cap limits how much energy suppliers can charge for each unit of gas and electricity and associated standing charges. It is not a cap on actual bills, which are determined by the amount of energy consumed. RECENT COMMUNICATION ABOUT ME BETWEEN ROYAL DUTCH/SHELL GROUP CHAIRMAN, JEROEM VAN DER VEER, ROYAL DUTCH/SHELL CHIEF EXECUTIVE/MD, MALCOLM BRINDED & SHELL INTERNATIONAL GENERAL COUNSEL/LEGAL DIRECTOR RICHARD WISEMAN: My current activities have been the subject of recent correspondence at the very highest level of Shell. I know this for a fact because I have an internal communication between Jeroem van der Veer, Malcolm Brinded and Shell Legal Director Richard Wiseman. The subject was comments made by me about Sir Mark Moody-Stuart and his brother, Mr George Moody-Stuart in relation to the endorsement of Shell’s ethical policies by Transparency International (see below). I am also aware of previous communications at Shell director level with Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, when he personally requested for his son, Tom Moody-Stuart, a copy of a document which I had supplied to Mr Wiseman. THE ROLE OF SIR MARK IN NIGERIA: Mark Moody-Stuart was one of the executives at the helm of the Royal Dutch Shell Group when the heroic Ken Saro-Wiwa was executed by Shell’s corrupt Nigerian government associates. This was after he had led a peaceful and entirely legitimate campaign against Shell. Ken Saro-Wiwa, the Nigerian “Gandhi”, rightly objected to Shell’s unconscionable exploitation of the Ogoni people and its unforgivable despoliation of Ogoniland. Moody-Stuart partly built his reputation at Shell whilst head of Shell Nigeria, as did his infamous successor in Nigeria (and subsequently as Shell Group Chairman), Sir Philip Watt’s. Acrylic performs and looks better than PVC vinyl. But it might not last long because of its brittle nature.

The committee suggests extending the scheme to the disabled, elderly, those with chronic medical conditions and those on low incomes who may not otherwise qualify. Dr Craig Lowrey, principal consultant at Cornwall Insight, said: “The jump in price cap predictions since September has once again highlighted the vulnerability of UK energy prices – and customer bills – to geopolitical events. publish information on customer service performance to help households make an informed decision when switching, and drive their own performance. Need elite athleticism at safety; the two deep defenders are forced to cover one half of the deep field by themselvesIn 1914, the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) included not a single trained psychiatrist to treat war trauma. The Russian invasion of Ukraine demonstrated there is a delicate balance in the global energy market which can easily be disrupted by unexpected events, and it looks as though the current situation is repeating that pattern.

Energy UK, which represents suppliers, has aligned with Ofgem and Citizens Advice to develop its Winter 2023 Voluntary Debt Commitment, outlining ways the participating 14 suppliers should support customers ( see update below).According to National Grid ESO, which ran the service between November 2022 and March 2023, around 1.6 million households and businesses participated, reducing electricity consumption by 3,300 megawatt hours over 22 peak periods. Six major network operators – which include UK Power Networks and National Grid Electricity Distribution – are responsible for linking up homes and businesses to the electricity network. Ofgem is proposing to have many of these requirements in place by December 2023 to help protect and support consumers over the winter. When asked the main benefits of taking part, 42% cited satisfaction from managing the challenge, 39% said earning rewards and 38% said it was being part of a national collective effort. It says it will use “all levers” to ensure costs are spread fairly and customers struggling with bills are supported.

Anyone who does not have an EPC will be provided with one by their energy supplier, which will commission an approved installer to assess the property and recommend the most appropriate course of action. Shell’s assessment foresaw a one-meter sea-level rise, and noted that warming could also fuel disintegration of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, resulting in a worldwide rise in sea level of “five to six meters.” That would be enough to inundate entire low-lying countries.UK law firm Leigh Day, which represented the Bodo community in a UK court case, was sent a copy of the letter. It wrote to Shell on behalf of the community on 30 January 2017 seeking urgent clarification and disclosure of the data. In addition, Leigh Day requested that Shell put in place the necessary health screening measures forthwith. Yet Leigh Day still hasn’t received a reply. Exxon’s private prediction of the future growth of carbon dioxide levels (left axis) and global temperature relative to 1982 (right axis). Elsewhere in its report, Exxon noted that the most widely accepted science at the time indicated that doubling carbon dioxide levels would cause a global warming of 3°C. Illustration: 1982 Exxon internal briefing document Since these charges are fixed and applied universally, they reduce the benefit of cutting consumption. This is down steeply on previous iterations of the cap and its temporary replacement, the government’s energy price guarantee, and the fall was cited by the Office for National Statistics last Wednesday as a reason for the sharp fall in inflation in July to 6.8% (from 7.9% in June). Energy UK, which represents suppliers, has also published the Winter 2023 Voluntary Debt Commitment, developed with Citizens Advice and Ofgem. It sets out the steps 14 participating suppliers will take to provide support such as: