Homeowners in the UK have been hit by wave after wave of energy price increases over the last few years, putting a strain on already squeezed household budgets. During 2011, the Big Six energy suppliers – British Gas, EDF Energy, SSE, E.ON, Scottish Power and Npower – have continually come under fire for raising their rates, leading to more people switching to alternative energy sources like Evoenergy solar panels.
In July, British Gas announced that gas and electricity would cost 18 per cent and 16 per cent more respectively. This was followed in August by E.ON increasing electricity prices by 11.4 per cent and gas by 18.1 per cent, while in November EDF’s gas and electricity prices went up by 4.5 per cent and 15.4 per cent respectively.
A survey by independent energy firm SmartestEnergy recently predicted that wholesale energy prices will rise by at least 40 per cent over the next decade. Based on the responses of 71 leading industry figures, the study found that more than a third believed costs will hit between £70 and £79.99 per MWh by 2021, while just eight per cent thought prices would be the same or lower than today’s.
For as long as we rely on fossil fuels, there is little evidence that prices will start to go down again in any meaningful way. Put simply, there are three major factors contributing to spiralling energy costs: the UK is Europe’s biggest user and the world’s fastest-growing importer of gas, making it vulnerable to global volatility in the energy markets. Speaking to Moneysavingexpert.com in July, Andrew Horstead of energy management company Utilyx said March’s tsunami in Japan and the political unrest in Libya led to wholesale oil prices rising by 32 per cent.
The second factor is the cost of upgrading the UK’s energy infrastructure. In order to meet climate change targets, the country’s electricity connections need an investment of up to £5 billion, involving over 600 miles of new cabling to connect wind farms and new nuclear builds to the grid. This is, however, all in the name of a welcome transition to cleaner sources of energy, which leads us to the third biggest factor pushing up energy prices: the costs borne by energy suppliers and businesses to meet government targets, which are passed on to consumers in the form of higher bills.
Against this backdrop, it makes sense for the average homeowner to join in with the green revolution for themselves. By installing solar panels, consumers both reduce their dependence on their energy supplier – and thus future price rises – and contribute towards the UK’s transition to cleaner sources of power. Under the Feed-in Tariff scheme, eligible householders can even sell power they don’t use to the national grid, meaning the investment can pay for itself in a matter of years.
According to the latest Department for Energy and Climate Change figures, more than 150,000 solar photovoltaic systems have been installed in the UK so far in 2011 – so contact EvoEnergy today and join the thousands of others who have made the switch to clean power.
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