EDF another bit gone

[Adrian W]

Heard the EDF boss getting grilled on the radio this morning, was getting asked why they put up prices here and not in France, refused to answer!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7632853.stm

We're becoming a laughing stock in the rest of Europe, if things go tits up or theirs a war, we have:- no or very little fuel,electricity,gas and food,

[MrV]

Bound to get even better when they get their hands on our nuclear power stations to

[chris watton]

Adrian W said:

Heard the EDF boss getting grilled on the radio this morning, was getting asked why they put up prices here and not in France, refused to answer!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7632853.stm

We're becoming a laughing stock in the rest of Europe, if things go tits up or theirs a war, we have:- no or very little fuel,electricity,gas and food,

From what I've been told, energy prices haven't gone up at all in both France and Spain, and I know for certain they haven't gone up in Italy - so why is the government blaming the world economic situation on rising fuel costs for the UK?

[scorp]

chris watton said:

From what I've been told, energy prices haven't gone up at all in both France and Spain, and I know for certain they haven't gone up in Italy - so why is the government blaming the world economic situation on rising fuel costs for the UK?

I guess he's banking on most the population being insular little-englanders who have no clue what its like outside the uk and so can be spoonfed bks like this. Hell, his party engineered most of them anyway.

[Silver993tt]

The utility companies in France, Germany and Italy can't be bought by a foreign company - seems to only happen in the UK. It's another part of UK 'identity' theft thats happened

[phumy]

Silver993tt said:

The utility companies in France, Germany and Italy can't be bought by a foreign company - seems to only happen in the UK. It's another part of UK 'identity' theft thats happened

Its just the UK government wanting to get the "old white elephant" off of their backs

[chris watton]

scorp said:

chris watton said:

From what I've been told, energy prices haven't gone up at all in both France and Spain, and I know for certain they haven't gone up in Italy - so why is the government blaming the world economic situation on rising fuel costs for the UK?

I guess he's banking on most the population being insular little-englanders who have no clue what its like outside the uk and so can be spoonfed bks like this. Hell, his party engineered most of them anyway.

And their old fallback chant - "We want Britain to lead the way in the recognition of the realities of Climate Change, we want to 'encourage' people of Britain to think about their energy consumption, thus showing the world how docile our population is in swalling this guff - as we [politicions] have invested a lot of our own personal fortune in underhand carbon credit schemes, and we me ensure a good return on our investment"

Or something like that.....

[Adrian W]

chris watton said:

Adrian W said:

Heard the EDF boss getting grilled on the radio this morning, was getting asked why they put up prices here and not in France, refused to answer!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7632853.stm

We're becoming a laughing stock in the rest of Europe, if things go tits up or theirs a war, we have:- no or very little fuel,electricity,gas and food,

From what I've been told, energy prices haven't gone up at all in both France and Spain, and I know for certain they haven't gone up in Italy - so why is the government blaming the world economic situation on rising fuel costs for the UK?

My electricity definatly hasnt gone up in Spain, but then again my rubbish gets collected six days a week and it only costs 50euros a year.

[aclivity]

Silver993tt said:

The utility companies in France, Germany and Italy can't be bought by a foreign company - seems to only happen in the UK. It's another part of UK 'identity' theft thats happened

will the right winger daily hate mail reading thatcherite population realise that she was wrong? Or will the blame be passed to the subsequent government who didn't rectify the parlous state she led us into?

[deckster]

chris watton said:

From what I've been told, energy prices haven't gone up at all in both France and Spain, and I know for certain they haven't gone up in Italy - so why is the government blaming the world economic situation on rising fuel costs for the UK?

Well given that France has had the foresight to invest heavily in nuclear power for the last 20 years or so, they are sitting pretty right now laughing at the rest of world as they panic over gas supplies and whatnot. I genuinely think there will be real problems in the near-to-middle future as the balance of political power slowly and inexorably shifts to the OPEC countries, and without real, immediate and drastic action we could soon find ourselves at the wrong end of a severe energy crisis.

[quotemehappy]

There isnt very much of UK plc left.

[Parrot of Doom]

Adrian W said:

Heard the EDF boss getting grilled on the radio this morning, was getting asked why they put up prices here and not in France, refused to answer!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7632853.stm

We're becoming a laughing stock in the rest of Europe, if things go tits up or theirs a war, we have:- no or very little fuel,electricity,gas and food,

Pretty sure that in France at least, energy prices are capped by the government.

[Hedders]

I hope that the electricity bill has been factored in for the olympics..

[devonshiredave]

think they are much more regulated as to price variations in france etc

[Adrian W]

Parrot of Doom said:

Adrian W said:

Heard the EDF boss getting grilled on the radio this morning, was getting asked why they put up prices here and not in France, refused to answer!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7632853.stm

We're becoming a laughing stock in the rest of Europe, if things go tits up or theirs a war, we have:- no or very little fuel,electricity,gas and food,

Pretty sure that in France at least, energy prices are capped by the government.

I thought the utility companies arnt allowed to make huge profits at home so they make them here, isn't Thames Water German owned

[munky]

Blame deregulation of the energy markets in the UK (which I think was implemented by the Tories?). At the time I'm sure it seemed like a good idea - open up the market to competition, eliminate the monopolies of BG and the regional electricity cos that could charge what they wanted, and encourage efficiency. The downside was that we became a slave to international market prices and prone to our utilities being sold off to johnny foreigner (not necessarily a bad thing, if they do a better job than the old inefficient beaurocracies). So, back then energy became cheaper but now it's more expensive. France is now, I read somewhere, 90% nuclear so they're really not that affected by swings in the wholesale prices of oil, gas and coal as we are. It really is global prices that have changed, those countries that haven't increased the price to consumers are either nuclear (France) or, basically, subsidised in one form or another by the taxpayer.

[JagLover]

munky said:

Blame deregulation of the energy markets in the UK (which I think was implemented by the Tories?). At the time I'm sure it seemed like a good idea - open up the market to competition, eliminate the monopolies of BG and the regional electricity cos that could charge what they wanted, and encourage efficiency. The downside was that we became a slave to international market prices and prone to our utilities being sold off to johnny foreigner (not necessarily a bad thing, if they do a better job than the old inefficient beaurocracies). So, back then energy became cheaper but now it's more expensive. France is now, I read somewhere, 90% nuclear so they're really not that affected by swings in the wholesale prices of oil, gas and coal as we are. It really is global prices that have changed, those countries that haven't increased the price to consumers are either nuclear (France) or, basically, subsidised in one form or another by the taxpayer.

That is part of the reason. The other is the costs imposed by the 'renewables obligation' and the fact we wouldn't be so dependent on imported gas if the government had planned ahead with a proper energy policy.

[sleep envy]

chris watton said:

From what I've been told, energy prices haven't gone up at all in both France and Spain, and I know for certain they haven't gone up in Italy - so why is the government blaming the world economic situation on rising fuel costs for the UK?

well they can't go up in Italy - their 3kw domestic supply is a joke

watching telly, washing mnachine on and fancy a cuppa?

pooooof!!! the consumer unit jumps

[chris watton]

sleep envy said:

chris watton said:

From what I've been told, energy prices haven't gone up at all in both France and Spain, and I know for certain they haven't gone up in Italy - so why is the government blaming the world economic situation on rising fuel costs for the UK?

well they can't go up in Italy - their 3kw domestic supply is a joke

watching telly, washing mnachine on and fancy a cuppa?

pooooof!!! the consumer unit jumps

LOL, true, when we first come here, that was a bit of a shock, having the fuse trip because we put the kettle on as well as the water boiler! We have upped our supply to a whopping 4.5kw now...

[sleep envy]

when I bought my flat over there and had it fitted out, the kitchen fitter's jaw dropped when I told him I wanted a cermic hob

I now have what is known as an industrial power supply

all 6kw of it