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Author Topic: Has your energy company gone bust?  (Read 7677 times)

Offline lillythesavage

I switched to Octupus a couple of weeks back, they seem to be safe, looks like another 5 or 6 will go today, what a mess.

Offline PunterNumber69

But still you'll get your electricity and gas. You'll just get automatically changed to another supplier. Don't worry about it. Just wait for the bills.

Offline Moby Dick

I switched my electric to Yorkshire energy last year for a cheaper tarriff.

Saved about £30/month for 3 months then got a letter from the previous supplier saying they would become my new supplier because Yorkshire Energy had gone bust
My direct debits remained the same but I can see online the tariff is a lot more, and each month I get further in debt. Doesn’t bother me. I prefer that I owe them and have the cash now, fund my gambling habits. They can chase me for the money. Meanwhile I may win big  :D and spunk it all over prossies.

Offline PunterNumber69

I switched my electric to Yorkshire energy last year for a cheaper tarriff.

Saved about £30/month for 3 months then got a letter from the previous supplier saying they would become my new supplier because Yorkshire Energy had gone bust
My direct debits remained the same but I can see online the tariff is a lot more, and each month I get further in debt. Doesn’t bother me. I prefer that I owe them and have the cash now, fund my gambling habits. They can chase me for the money. Meanwhile I may win big  :D and spunk it all over prossies.
When another energy company takes over a failed energy company you also get the option of switching to another supplier within so many days of moving to the new supplier, so don't feel you're stuck with the new supplier. I think all energy companies are raising their tariffs, so a situation to get used to for a while.

Offline Rick2468

I switched my electric to Yorkshire energy last year for a cheaper tarriff.

Saved about £30/month for 3 months then got a letter from the previous supplier saying they would become my new supplier because Yorkshire Energy had gone bust
My direct debits remained the same but I can see online the tariff is a lot more, and each month I get further in debt. Doesn’t bother me. I prefer that I owe them and have the cash now, fund my gambling habits. They can chase me for the money. Meanwhile I may win big  :D and spunk it all over prossies.

I change supplier pretty much every year now and use Money Saving Expert to quickly find the best deal. Switching is no hassle. I do the same with my internet and insurance. The savings on energy are fairly modest but you can save a couple of hundred a year with internet. They give good offers to new customers. One year I had internet with PlusNet, my contract expired and PlusNet were still offering the best deal to new customers. I called them up and said look I want to stay with you but only if you give me the new joiner email. They said no and I told them look I have been set up you don't even need to send me a router so I'm better than a new customer but they still declined. I might have got the deal if I spoke to a different person.

Offline Moby Dick

When another energy company takes over a failed energy company you also get the option of switching to another supplier within so many days of moving to the new supplier, so don't feel you're stuck with the new supplier. I think all energy companies are raising their tariffs, so a situation to get used to for a while.
I’m on their standard tariff for now.
It’s cheaper than their “tied in” deals because, guess what, they are expecting an increase.
They have told me my bill is going up £170/year. That’s one less punt, or the kids can freeze this winter!!

Offline lillythesavage

When another energy company takes over a failed energy company you also get the option of switching to another supplier within so many days of moving to the new supplier, so don't feel you're stuck with the new supplier. I think all energy companies are raising their tariffs, so a situation to get used to for a while.

Yes, that may well be the case, but how many choices are you going to have and what is the cost going to be? You will not get the same deal you were on and just heard the big companies are baulking at taking on those from bust companies.

No one has taken on the 350, 000 from Peoples Energy yet, the company I left before my deal ended as I thought they would go skint before this shite, they were dire.

Offline PunterNumber69

Yes, that may well be the case, but how many choices are you going to have and what is the cost going to be? You will not get the same deal you were on and just heard the big companies are baulking at taking on those from bust companies.

No one has taken on the 350, 000 from Peoples Energy yet, the company I left before my deal ended as I thought they would go skint before this shite, they were dire.
The deal you were on was clearly too good to be true and the company went bust. It's all down to the strategies they use to buy their electricity and gas in advance and far in advance. Get it wrong or the market changes radically as it has at the moment and your cashflow goes bad and you go bust. The remaining energy companies probably didn't buy enough supply to be taking on 100,000s of new customers, so if they take them on they'll have to buy more supply sooner as what they bought won't last as long as planned and probably at a higher prices.  If we have a bad winter things could get interesting.

Offline lillythesavage

The deal you were on was clearly too good to be true and the company went bust. It's all down to the strategies they use to buy their electricity and gas in advance and far in advance. Get it wrong or the market changes radically as it has at the moment and your cashflow goes bad and you go bust. The remaining energy companies probably didn't buy enough supply to be taking on 100,000s of new customers, so if they take them on they'll have to buy more supply sooner as what they bought won't last as long as planned and probably at a higher prices.  If we have a bad winter things could get interesting.


Seems like it is going to cause food shortages too, shortage of CO2, which seems nuts considering we have had it drummed into us we produce too much. Good and bad CO2 lol.

If the big ones will not take on the ones from bust companies, who will? 

Offline PunterNumber69


Seems like it is going to cause food shortages too, shortage of CO2, which seems nuts considering we have had it drummed into us we produce too much. Good and bad CO2 lol.

If the big ones will not take on the ones from bust companies, who will?
Ultimately, as part of the energy supplier licence I think Ofgem can force companies to take customers. There's always a supplier of last resort. It looks like they might have to split up the customers from the failed suppliers so a percentage goes to each supplier, otherwise dumping a load of new customers on one supplier might then cause that new supplier problems. Splitting up the customers will just take more time to sort out.  Giving them all to one supplier would be easier, but I suspect none of them will really want them right now.  Alternatively, the new supplier might get some cash to cover buying new supply on the spot market where you'll currently be paying high prices as we're coming up for winter, the electricity wire from France had a fire and is working at lower capacity and we're not getting as much green energy than planned.

I think the CO2 generation plants were shutdown due to high gas price and possibly low demand for fertiliser and the CO2 is produced as a by product of the fertiliser production. No doubt the government will be giving someone a pot of cash to reopen the fertiliser plants maybe by awarding the owning company a contract for something the government needs.

We'll all be fine. Don't panic. Just let the market adjust.
« Last Edit: September 20, 2021, 04:12:07 pm by PunterNumber69 »

Offline mr.bluesky

Best dig out the candles just in case. Then there will be panic buying and there will be a candle shortage  :scare:

Offline lillythesavage

Ultimately, as part of the energy supplier licence I think Ofgem can force companies to take customers. There's always a supplier of last resort. It looks like they might have to split up the customers from the failed suppliers so a percentage goes to each supplier, otherwise dumping a load of new customers on one supplier might then cause that new supplier problems. Splitting up the customers will just take more time to sort out.  Giving them all to one supplier would be easier, but I suspect none of them will really want them right now.  Alternatively, the new supplier might get some cash to cover buying new supply on the spot market where you'll currently be paying high prices as we're coming up for winter, the electricity wire from France had a fire and is working at lower capacity and we're not getting as much green energy than planned.

I think the CO2 generation plants were shutdown due to high gas price and possibly low demand for fertiliser and the CO2 is produced as a by product of the fertiliser production. No doubt the government will be giving someone a pot of cash to reopen the fertiliser plants maybe by awarding the owning company a contract for something the government needs.

We'll all be fine. Don't panic. Just let the market adjust.

Not a lot we can do lol, panic will not help.

You can bet whatever happens we are going to be paying more for everything from meat and veg to gas and electric.

Convenient to get us used to paying more for power, the loss of duty on road fuels has to be covered somehow and that is going to drop drastically in the coming years as people are convinced electric is the way to go. Those with Electric cars should have a separate meter really and pay more, not really fair lobbing a tax on electric for those that do not use one. That is for another debate lol.

Offline lillythesavage

I change supplier pretty much every year now and use Money Saving Expert to quickly find the best deal. Switching is no hassle. I do the same with my internet and insurance. The savings on energy are fairly modest but you can save a couple of hundred a year with internet. They give good offers to new customers. One year I had internet with PlusNet, my contract expired and PlusNet were still offering the best deal to new customers. I called them up and said look I want to stay with you but only if you give me the new joiner email. They said no and I told them look I have been set up you don't even need to send me a router so I'm better than a new customer but they still declined. I might have got the deal if I spoke to a different person.

The whole thing is skewed, loyalty is a swear word lol, and how on earth it is green to keep making and sending routers and dumping the one you have is beyond me. All about money though, it must pay them to have us keep switching or one of them would offer long contracts, stinks of market fixing really.

I doubt you will get any joy, the are pre programmed to say no in call centres .


Offline Marmalade

One thing — switching to a switching company takes away the hatred most of us feel for a specific energy company. The company can repeatedly be switched automatically until its name is gobbledegook. Supposed to save money too.

Offline Rick2468

The whole thing is skewed, loyalty is a swear word lol, and how on earth it is green to keep making and sending routers and dumping the one you have is beyond me. All about money though, it must pay them to have us keep switching or one of them would offer long contracts, stinks of market fixing really.

I doubt you will get any joy, the are pre programmed to say no in call centres .

They make money from the 80% (or whatever % it is) who can't be bothered to switch each year. It's like car insurance you can save a few hundred each year. I think most car insurers tend to lose money in their first year but do so to get you in the door and charge you more in future years. I'm really frugal now as I overpaid on my home insurance for years to the tune of about £5K (ouch). It was attached to my mortgage and with Halifax so I assumed they would be charging a fair price. A chance conversation with some mates down the pub they all said they were paying just a couple of hundred a year. I found out Halifax had been screwing me over so I immediately switched and always switch to try and effectively get the c£5K back. I ended up leaving Halifax which included my current account, mortgage and over £1M in ISA and OEIC investments so I think they ended up losing more than £5K by losing me as a customer just on ISA charges alone. Bastards.
« Last Edit: September 20, 2021, 06:06:32 pm by Rick2468 »

Offline wilbers

Best dig out the candles just in case. Then there will be panic buying and there will be a candle shortage  :scare:

Maybe candle rationing will be introduced - 4 per person?  :D

Offline anyfucker

I hope they've got a couple of coal fired generators ready and good stocks of coal ready for our cold snap.

Offline tintin100

With Green.energy, will be going bust soon.

Offline PepeMAGA

Looks like it was a scam, selling gas much cheaper than its worth. Fill their pockets, go under so someone else had to deal with the fallout.

Offline Moby Dick

Maybe candle rationing will be introduced - 4 per person?  :D
Nah Fork Handles will be fine.

Offline Marmalade


Offline tiptop07

Was with Peoples Energy.
A smaller company with good customer feedback. They had an agreement in place that as soon as the company made a certain amount of money, any futher profit would be distributed back to the customers. Rather nice idea!
They prices were great - £1510 for a year Gas and Electric which beat anything else hands down back in February when I switched.

However the wholesale prince since then has blasted their game plan out the water and they went bust last week.
Awaiting the gov to appoint a new supplier.

The cheapest fixed deal now is £408 more expensive for the year :-(

Offline Gordon Bennett

Thank heavens I signed up for a 2-yr fix last month. To be fair, for a few months a big hike had been predicted for October due to the cap changing. I know that's slightly different to the supply woes but there was fair notice to take action if your contract situation allowed.
My fix was with EDF. There were marginally cheaper options but I baulked at idea of going with a piddly company or one I'd never heard of.

Offline lillythesavage

Was with Peoples Energy.
A smaller company with good customer feedback. They had an agreement in place that as soon as the company made a certain amount of money, any futher profit would be distributed back to the customers. Rather nice idea!
They prices were great - £1510 for a year Gas and Electric which beat anything else hands down back in February when I switched.

However the wholesale prince since then has blasted their game plan out the water and they went bust last week.
Awaiting the gov to appoint a new supplier.

The cheapest fixed deal now is £408 more expensive for the year :-(

I have no idea where you read good customer feedback for Peoples Energy, I got switched to them by a switching company and immediate problems started and customer service is dire.

Got out of it as soon as I could, after using the Ombudsmen to get things sorted, I believe the switching companies are taking backhanders to sign you up to this mob.

Basically the changed the direct debit month after month, upwards of course, I thought they would go bust before this, they were run on a shoestring, no surprise others do not want their customers, guaranteed most accounts will be a mess.

Offline lillythesavage

Thank heavens I signed up for a 2-yr fix last month. To be fair, for a few months a big hike had been predicted for October due to the cap changing. I know that's slightly different to the supply woes but there was fair notice to take action if your contract situation allowed.
My fix was with EDF. There were marginally cheaper options but I baulked at idea of going with a piddly company or one I'd never heard of.


I did too, with Octopus, hovered over the flexi deal for a good while, had a few winners on flexi deals in the past, but opted for fixed thank fuck, and for two years. People Energy had put me off any little company, Octopus seemed a good option to avoid the foreign owned big boys.

Offline tiptop07

I have no idea where you read good customer feedback for Peoples Energy, I got switched to them by a switching company and immediate problems started and customer service is dire.

Got out of it as soon as I could, after using the Ombudsmen to get things sorted, I believe the switching companies are taking backhanders to sign you up to this mob.

Basically the changed the direct debit month after month, upwards of course, I thought they would go bust before this, they were run on a shoestring, no surprise others do not want their customers, guaranteed most accounts will be a mess.

Ah that doesnt sound good. I found the process pretty straight forward and no problems upto now.

Just got an email from British Gas now saying they are my new supplier.
Will await their 'competitive tariff details in due course

Offline lillythesavage

Ah that doesnt sound good. I found the process pretty straight forward and no problems upto now.

Just got an email from British Gas now saying they are my new supplier.
Will await their 'competitive tariff details in due course

Does not matter now they bit the dust as I expected them too regardless of this, and I got my refund a few days ago, amazing how the Ombudsmen gets them moving, and suitable reviews, they waived the exit fees too, glad to get rid of me :D, which is no surprise as I did not settle for the bollocks they tried.

Any new tariff is going to be bet hedging against the market at the moment, good luck getting a competitive one.  :hi:

Offline Watts.E.Dunn

I hope they've got a couple of coal fired generators ready and good stocks of coal ready for our cold snap.

Here yer go, they've had the Coal and Oil up recently, when the Oils being burnt things are not good.

One of the main reasons is the bloody wind, thats been useless for months now!


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Offline king tarzan

Everything's going up.
Damn the expense of life..

Yet I'm in one of the greatest countries in the world so that gives me hope to survive 🙏🙏👍👍
Banned reason: Misogynist who gets free bookings from agencies for pos reviews.
Banned by: daviemac

Offline standardpostage

Everything's going up.
Damn the expense of life..

Yet I'm in one of the greatest countries in the world so that gives me hope to survive 🙏🙏👍👍
+1

Offline WASA38

With Green.energy, will be going bust soon.

Me too, Had an email from them yesterday asking me to sign a petition demanding the resignation of the energy minister (K.K. ; can't be arsed to remember the spelling).

Offline jonnw16

They make money from the 80% (or whatever % it is) who can't be bothered to switch each year. It's like car insurance you can save a few hundred each year. I think most car insurers tend to lose money in their first year but do so to get you in the door and charge you more in future years...
I believe they're not allowed to do that any more.

Offline lillythesavage

I believe they're not allowed to do that any more.

You are so wrong, just checked all my accounts and TalkTalk have upped my broadband by 15 quid a month as the contract has expired, BT doubled it last time.

Insurance companies are far worse, but will usually match quotes from elsewhere but only if you contact them, auto renew will be at a big premium.

Offline Blackpool Rock

You are so wrong, just checked all my accounts and TalkTalk have upped my broadband by 15 quid a month as the contract has expired, BT doubled it last time.

Insurance companies are far worse, but will usually match quotes from elsewhere but only if you contact them, auto renew will be at a big premium.
He's right for car and house insurance premiums as there was a ruling earlier this year that companies can't charge new customers less than existing ones.
Pissed me right off as I always compare premiums for both of those but can't be arsed for energy and broadband etc, why make the ruling for some things and not others  :mad:

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Offline lillythesavage

He's right for car and house insurance premiums as there was a ruling earlier this year that companies can't charge new customers less than existing ones.
Pissed me right off as I always compare premiums for both of those but can't be arsed for energy and broadband etc, why make the ruling for some things and not others  :mad:

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That does seem rather stupid, how is one thing different than the other?

Offline PunterNumber69

That does seem rather stupid, how is one thing different than the other?
Because energy is a commodity which is traded on markets. The prices goes up and down based on demand.  For existing customers, the utility company will have bought energy in advance to cover their estimated consumption for a period of time. For new customers, the utility has to buy more energy to xover their estimated consumption and they'll be paying current market prices, which are higher than they were 2 years ago.

Insurance is priced based on the risk you are insuring against happening e.g. your house burning down and the cost of rebuilding it, which is relatively stable.

Offline StingRay

I'm considering a change since my current deal runs out in November - renewal quote was ridiculous with projected increase of over 50% pa! It's important if switching to not lock yourself into a fixed tariff for 12 or 24 months unless you can switch without a penalty charge of typically £20-£60 per product (penalty charged on both gas and electricity).

Offline Blackpool Rock

Because energy is a commodity which is traded on markets. The prices goes up and down based on demand.  For existing customers, the utility company will have bought energy in advance to cover their estimated consumption for a period of time. For new customers, the utility has to buy more energy to xover their estimated consumption and they'll be paying current market prices, which are higher than they were 2 years ago.

Insurance is priced based on the risk you are insuring against happening e.g. your house burning down and the cost of rebuilding it, which is relatively stable.
However it's not just energy where you can still get better deals being a new customer, take for instance Sky; BT; Virgin; various mobile phone deals etc etc i'm sure there are plenty of other examples and market sectors that people could name examples of like my car breakdown cover

So fundamentally why have they cracked down on car and house insurance and not other markets, all the sky and other media are probably what they should be targeting 1st and it's fixed costs not variable like energy supply

Offline PunterNumber69

However it's not just energy where you can still get better deals being a new customer, take for instance Sky; BT; Virgin; various mobile phone deals etc etc i'm sure there are plenty of other examples and market sectors that people could name examples of like my car breakdown cover

So fundamentally why have they cracked down on car and house insurance and not other markets, all the sky and other media are probably what they should be targeting 1st and it's fixed costs not variable like energy supply
It's all about acquiring new customers by offering lower prices on things like Sky. Once they have you then they flog you extras like HD, mulitiscreen, etc. It doesn't pay to be loyal on energy or insurance. Switching from Sky is harder but you can still get deals by saying you're going to leave them. It's all part of the game you have to play these days.  If you don't play you end up paying more.  Just a little dance you have to do once every few years. 

Offline Blackpool Rock

It's all about acquiring new customers by offering lower prices on things like Sky. Once they have you then they flog you extras like HD, mulitiscreen, etc. It doesn't pay to be loyal on energy or insurance. Switching from Sky is harder but you can still get deals by saying you're going to leave them. It's all part of the game you have to play these days.  If you don't play you end up paying more.  Just a little dance you have to do once every few years.
But that doesn't answer the question why impose it for car and house insurance and not for anything else  :unknown:

It's pissed me off as car and house were the only 2 things I could be bothered getting price comparisons for every year and it's already been stated that the end effect is those who switched every year will now end up paying more than they did and those who sat on their arses and didn't compare will now pay less than they did  :dash:

Apparently it "Wasn't fair" so how come it's fair to charge an existing sky etc customer more  :unknown:
« Last Edit: September 22, 2021, 02:22:14 pm by Blackpool Rock »

Offline anyfucker

Was with Peoples Energy.
A smaller company with good customer feedback. They had an agreement in place that as soon as the company made a certain amount of money, any futher profit would be distributed back to the customers. Rather nice idea!
They prices were great - £1510 for a year Gas and Electric which beat anything else hands down back in February when I switched.

However the wholesale prince since then has blasted their game plan out the water and they went bust last week.
Awaiting the gov to appoint a new supplier.

The cheapest fixed deal now is £408 more expensive for the year :-(
You chose a company that "beat anything else hands down back in February" so you were paying less than the going rate.
Now you are going to end up paying the going rate so you've benefitted for seven months or so.

Offline PunterNumber69

But that doesn't answer the question why impose it for car and house insurance and not for anything else  :unknown:

It's pissed me off as car and house were the only 2 things I could be bothered getting price comparisons for every year and it's already been stated that the end effect is those who switched every year will now end up paying more than they did and those who sat on their arses and didn't compare will now pay less than they did  :dash:

Apparently it "Wasn't fair" so how come it's fair to charge an existing sky etc customer more  :unknown:
Because insurance is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and one of their principles is treating all customers fairly, so if you ever need to complain to an insurance just say the words "You're not treating me fairly" and they'll get worried that the FCA will kick their arse.  Satellite TV, broadband, etc. comes under Ofcom and clearly they don't have the same regulations.

Offline anyfucker

I'm considering a change since my current deal runs out in November - renewal quote was ridiculous with projected increase of over 50% pa! It's important if switching to not lock yourself into a fixed tariff for 12 or 24 months unless you can switch without a penalty charge of typically £20-£60 per product (penalty charged on both gas and electricity).
At a time of strongly rising prices having a longer term fixed price is advantageous for you, not so much the supplying company.
Similar problems have happened in California USA where some domestic consumers were on a tariff directly linked to wholesale prices.
When prices soared they were complaining they were being charged hundreds of dollars a day.
As the French say, you can't eat your cake and sell it.

Offline PunterNumber69

At a time of strongly rising prices having a longer term fixed price is advantageous for you, not so much the supplying company.
Similar problems have happened in California USA where some domestic consumers were on a tariff directly linked to wholesale prices.
When prices soared they were complaining they were being charged hundreds of dollars a day.
As the French say, you can't eat your cake and sell it.
But in California the energy traders were deliberately forcing the price high by shipping all the energy to Nevada.  All part of the Enron mess.

Offline Blackpool Rock

Another 2 suppliers gone under today according to the news

Offline sir wanksalot

Yep. I was with Green. Second company in a row I have been with that has gone bump.

Anyone any idea why the UK has one of the lowest amount of gas storage in Europe?



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Offline Blackpool Rock

Yep. I was with Green. Second company in a row I have been with that has gone bump.

Anyone any idea why the UK has one of the lowest amount of gas storage in Europe?



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Generally we seem to be good at failing to do "Disaster planning" and looking further than the end of our noses.
People will have looked at it and thought storing it is inefficient and a waste of money as you have to pay to build infrastructure then buy gas and store it before you actually need it.
Unfortunately this country is often run by "bean counting" accountants whose only thoughts are short term in that the balance sheet needs to look good this year and they forget about 5 years time.
What they don't seem capable of factoring in is that it's cheaper in the long term to buy the gas to replenish the store when it's cheap and when the price is hiked you just use up some of the store.

The argument will have also been used that we can get more power from Europe if needed, all well and good until an interconnector fire happens which apparently takes over 6 months to fix  :dash:

It's basically like running a company on a JIT system, great until something goes wrong or unforeseen happens like the interconnector

Offline anyfucker

Generally we seem to be good at failing to do "Disaster planning" and looking further than the end of our noses.
People will have looked at it and thought storing it is inefficient and a waste of money as you have to pay to build infrastructure then buy gas and store it before you actually need it.
Unfortunately this country is often run by "bean counting" accountants whose only thoughts are short term in that the balance sheet needs to look good this year and they forget about 5 years time.
What they don't seem capable of factoring in is that it's cheaper in the long term to buy the gas to replenish the store when it's cheap and when the price is hiked you just use up some of the store.

The argument will have also been used that we can get more power from Europe if needed, all well and good until an interconnector fire happens which apparently takes over 6 months to fix  :dash:

It's basically like running a company on a JIT system, great until something goes wrong or unforeseen happens like the interconnector
in the past Germany would typically buy gas over the summer when it is cheaper to fill the storage.
Our largest gas storage facility was the Rough off-shore field, this has been shut down due to "safety concerns".
Back in the good old monopoly  days of British Gas they could afford (i.e. force us to fund) to have larger storage, nowadays all the smaller companies are just looking at the bottom line so storage isn't their problem.
Security of energy supplies is vital for our economy so the government needs to step in and sort it out even if it means we have to pay more for our energy.

Offline sir wanksalot

in the past Germany would typically buy gas over the summer when it is cheaper to fill the storage.
Our largest gas storage facility was the Rough off-shore field, this has been shut down due to "safety concerns".
Back in the good old monopoly  days of British Gas they could afford (i.e. force us to fund) to have larger storage, nowadays all the smaller companies are just looking at the bottom line so storage isn't their problem.
Security of energy supplies is vital for our economy so the government needs to step in and sort it out even if it means we have to pay more for our energy.

Perhaps it is time again to seriously consider fracking?

Offline PunterNumber69

Perhaps it is time again to seriously consider fracking?
No, thanks.

Just a bit of long term planning and government intervention. The free market works relatively well until things go wrong then it starts seizing up and problems ripple out.