When it comes to central heating, those north of the border often seem to be one step ahead of those in the south and as if in confirmation of this, ScottishPower has launched what it claims to be the first combined energy tariff that offers three key components: boiler care, gas and electricity.

And with the launch of this product, Scottish government central heating is set to become a little more comfortable. This bundle will guarantee customers their gas and electricity prices, and an all inclusive maintenance service for their boilers through a single monthly payment. ScottishPower believe that this will save their customers up to £50 on their energy prices and boiler cover.

The package, called The Platinum Fixed Energy January 2014 tariff, is designed to give 24 hour care for boilers, and an extended protection on energy prices. Not only this, but ScottishPower will also give a 25% discount on cavity wall insulation for their customers.

The online cost of this package is on average £1,211, making it a very attractive bundle.
“Through talking to our customers we became aware that many people wanted to be able to purchase a single product that covered all of their home energy needs and offered security on price. We believe that our new tariff will appeal to those who want both security on prices and the security of full protection for their boiler,” says Gerry Magee, Head of Marketing at ScottishPower.

Scottish government central heating is therefore likely to become less of a hassle for those Scottish customers who take up ScottishPower’s offer; the combined tariff and comprehensive care and cover of boilers will make it a leading choice for many. The future of combined tariffs appears to be growing too: “We believe that the approach of combining these different services will be the way that the market moves forward in the future,” adds Gerry Magee.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

Cheap electricity prices might be harder to get in the future thanks to a new Government green tax.

And ironically, the fact that cheap electricity prices might be a thing of the past, will mean a windfall for French energy company EDF.

It’s all thanks to the government’s plans to artificially raise the price of carbon allowances traded in the UK which will in effect make it more expensive to run a conventional fossil-fuel, high carbon power station, than it costs to run a low carbon nuclear plant.

And this, says two accountancy groups in major reports, will lead to an increase in electricity prices.

They point out that a carbon price of £29 per tonne, would result in a £7 increase per megawatt hour. This would take the total taxpayer cost to some £2.5 billion.

Translated in terms of the UK’s 22 million households , a £29 per tonne carbon price means an extra £40 every year on their energy bills.

And for UK businesses, it would mean a substantial addition to their costs.

As to the winner in this new arrangement, it’s been calculated that both EDF and the Treasury will be the main beneficiaries. EDF stands to get a windfall of £350 million, mainly because it owns and operates a number of UK nuclear power stations which currently produce nearly 15% of the country’s electricity. So the company gets the benefit of higher electricity prices, but will not have to buy carbon allowances, because their nuclear power stations do not produce carbon gases.

The same ‘carbon dividend’ will be felt by other renewable generation plants, including wind farms.

Observers says that EDF is keen on an increased carbon floor price for obvious reasons, as it’s a winner in both ways.

But experts point out that even with increased carbon floor prices, the incentive for new players to enter the market and build new nuclear power plants is simply not enough. And unless a major new nuclear power station build programme is started, then the current plants, plus the aging fossil-fuel stations, will not be enough to provide sustained energy for the UK over the coming decades.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

British Gas heating has launched a second version of its popular iPhone App.

The newest version App has promised to make it even easier for customers of British Gas heating to check their energy use, track their energy bills, and to avoid estimated bills by submitting meter readings.

The popularity of the app has shown in the numbers; around 100,000 customers have downloaded the App since its release in November. The App made British Gas the first UK energy company to offer such a piece of technology for customers.

Through their iPhones, iPods and iPads, there have been 18000 customers submitting meter readings in the month of June. This second version only increases its handiness and usefulness to any energy consumer: customers can now view their account’s balance, see the amount of their last bill and check when the next is due. Graphs can also be personalised to show their energy consumption.

One of the most popular aspects of the App has been the email facility, allowing customers to email British Gas with queries and questions, giving them a handy way to get in touch with their energy provider.

Head of Online services, Benjamin Braun, says, “The British Gas iPhone App has quickly caught the imagination of our smart phone-savvy customers, who increasingly rely on it to provide a quick and simple way to submit meter readings.

“More customers already contact us over the web than by telephone and with these new features, we expect that our App will quickly become the main way that many of our iPhone customers will manage their British Gas account.”

Not only is British Gas heating the first to provide such a service to its regular customers, it is now the first to provide similar technology to its business customers. It has now rolled out a meter reading application that allows businesses to see their gas and electricity readings and update their bills.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

The number of British Gas new customers has risen by almost 250,000 in the first half of 2010.

News of the rise in British gas new customers came when the company announced operating profits just shy of £600 million for the first six months of 2010. This represented a rise of almost double, some 98%.

British Gas stated that it had benefited from the very cold winter and demand for energy increased dramatically. The Group is a supplier to over half of the UK households and reports that the usage of gas rose by nearly 10%. Furthermore, after cutting prices in February, 2010, it added 223,000 new residential customers, which means that it now has 15.79 million accounts, more than it did in 2008.

The owners of British Gas, Centrica, actually stated that overall there was a fall in energy use, brought about by customers being more energy efficient. But that this was wiped out by the harsh winter.

Centrica’s statement said there was an underlying fall in energy use because customers were being more energy efficient, but this was offset by extra demand thanks to the freezing weather.

Figures from Centrica announced at the same time, showed that it had hiked profits to £1.56 billion, a rise of 65% over the previous period.

Centrica’s boss Sam Laidlaw said:
“This is a much bigger group than we had a year ago – a 40% increase in the size of the group as a result of the acquisitions that we did last year.

“Customers’ bills, despite the very cold winter, were actually lower this year than they were for the corresponding period last year, and that’s because we’ve reduced our prices three times in the last twelve months by some 17%.”

As regards consumer group calls for further price reductions, Mr Laidlaw added:
“This is a competitive market, so we can’t give any signals, but our position has always been to lead the market down and try to delay any price increases as long as we can.”

Although the managing director of British Gas, Phil Bentley, said:
“Probably unit prices per unit will go up. We’re not saying over the next year, but in the long term, it absolutely will.”

Experts say that it was likely the trend for increasing numbers of British Gas new customers will continue throughout 2010, especially given their major marketing campaigns.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

EDF, a electricity company which is a major UK energy provider, has announced that its about to boost facilities in Crawley and surrounding areas.

It intends to improve the local electricity network by investing some £4 million in West Sussex, including the increased capacity of its 132,000 volt grid which feeds the area. The project will involve the laying of new high-voltage cables which will be installed underground, plus increased capacity for the circuits which leave Bolney substation and head north.

One of the main incentives for this major refurbishment project is that the old cables in effect limit the amount of power that can be supplied to the more remote parts of the region. And the new underground cables will be able to cope with the expected capacity required over the coming decades.

An electricity company like EDF regularly has to upgrade their existing networks and even though the country is currently experiencing a number of financial cut-backs across all sectors, major infra-structure work, which has to be planned often years in advance, is still needed.

EDF Energy Networks Director of Capital Programme, Barry Hatton, commented:
“This essential project represents a major investment in maintaining and improving the energy infrastructure in the area for the foreseeable future.

“EDF Energy Networks is determined to provide a reliable supply of electricity and this project is part of our commitment. We hope people will understand the need for this work to be undertaken and would like to assure them it will be carried out with the utmost consideration for the community.”

The energy provider is reassuring local residents that the works to improve the network will take place with a minimum of inconvenience to their lives, saying it will do its best to reduce the impact on homes, businesses, motorists and pedestrians.

EDF is a major electricity company which produces one fifth of the UK’s electricity from a number of sources, including coal, gas and nuclear power stations, plus wind farms and combined heat and power plants.

Guest Article by Neil Camp