@jamespa 

Yes another missed opportunity yesterday, but one day justice will be served.
Going after the pope was a particularly dumb move, now he’s in the sights of both Vatican and mafia. My money would be on 2027 Ides of March, that would be a classy touch.

Posted by: @papahuhu

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@toodles 

Yes Octopus customer services was very upfront, they told me it is was 50/50 whether IOF and OF ever returns even if wholesale costs stabilise. Shame, as I really didn’t want to leave, but I’m a tight arse.

I don’t know how one business can offer a 25% higher export rate than another, it’s either viable or it’s not.

 

If TOU tariffs disappear this winter, I’m left with little option but to reinstate our gas.

I'd agree with @jamespa; the issue is not whether ToU tariffs will still be around but what format they'll take. Octopus tend to treat their ToU tariffs as experiments, and in the case of Octopus Agile are explicitly upfront about that being the case. Perversely, my gut feeling is that Agile is the most likely to continue since it's not locking Octopus into anything at all apart from a ceiling of £1/kWh.

@jamespa, regarding the rest of your summary I'd have to say it's a pretty cynical view of the situation and I'm feeling very much in a cynical mood so whilst I was reading it I was nodding like a Churchill dog. It's somewhat depressing that outrageous assumptions no longer sound like hyperbole.

@papahuhu That’s a long time to wait to be rid of the orange idiot though…

Posted by: @majordennisbloodnok

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@jamespa, regarding the rest of your summary I'd have to say it's a pretty cynical view of the situation and I'm feeling very much in a cynical mood so whilst I was reading it I was nodding like a Churchill dog. It's somewhat depressing that outrageous assumptions no longer sound like hyperbole.

I agree it is very cynical.  But seeing how he operated in respect of Ukraine (and almost everything else), I see no reason to be anything other than cynical.  That's actually quite rare for me, Im usually relatively forgiving and dismissive of those who continually allege 'brown envelopes'

Posted by: @majordennisbloodnok

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I'd agree with @jamespa; the issue is not whether ToU tariffs will still be around but what format they'll take. Octopus tend to treat their ToU tariffs as experiments, and in the case of Octopus Agile are explicitly upfront about that being the case. Perversely, my gut feeling is that Agile is the most likely to continue since it's not locking Octopus into anything at all apart from a ceiling of £1/kWh.

I agree about agile but its too complex for most so I would place my bets that simple ToU tarrifs will also continue.  The big question, I feel, is whether 'smart' (ie controllable by the utility) will become a condition of ToU.

@jamespa 

Brown envelopes, in one form or another, are universal. Having spent my career either side of the interface between private and state health, in countries east and west and including our revered NHS, I can attest to their existence. They only vary in their form, but a bribe is a bribe. Its reasonable to assume because they exist in my chosen field, they must exist in all. You might be disappointed if you knew how many consultants and specialists turn a sponsored 1 day medical conference in the Maldives into a 2 week all expenses paid family holiday.

Posted by: @papahuhu

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You might be disappointed if you knew how many consultants and specialists turn a sponsored 1 day medical conference in the Maldives into a 2 week all expenses paid family holiday.

Do you have evidence for the second part of that or is it just supposition.  I have certainly taken advantage of a flight paid for by my employer to tack on a holiday, but that seems (at least to my way of thinking) legitimate so long as no charges are made to the employer which would not otherwise have been made.

The first part of that is something In general terms) I am aware of, drug companies do seem, by reputation at least, to step over the line in sponsoring things for doctors.  Is this bribery - I guess it depends on the doctor.  If they take the money and it doesnt affect their clinical decisions then it could be attempted bribery, but not successful.

I must admit I was thinking of bribery of politicians/officials.  Of course it happens, but Im far from convinced it happens as much as some people suggest.   Its usually alleged by someone in respect of planning approvals that they dont like but, TBH, bribery isn't necessary because of the strong legal pressures on LPAs to permit development.  When coupled with the chronic underfunding (as voted for by the British Taxpayer) over the past fifteen years which leave LPAs unable to afford the expertise required to challenge well funded developers, particularly when they claim non-viability of S106 commitments and/or threaten appeals.

@toodles Charlie could do the job for us this week, for once he’d be earning his sovereign grant. I’m sure he could find a reason to wear a ceremonial sword on the fancy dress costume he wears and because he has the divine right of kings his legal defence could be he’s only enacting gods work on earth!

@jamespa And those pressures on LPA’s are EXTREMELY strong if the evidence of building monstrosities erected in our area in the last few years is anything to go by. Regrets, Toodles.

Octopus were loss making in their last set of accounts, their heat pump operation is loss making, they are not particularly well capitalised, their standard tariff for customers without solar, ev, heat pumps, batteries are not particularly competitive right now, they have sold off a chuck off Kraken, the UK octopus retail is just part of their business and perhaps not the biggest opportunity going forward.

I obviously don't know but perhaps they are not particularly chasing market share, perhaps getting back into profit in the UK is a priority. In the past they were open about loss leader tariff. Tarrif making a loss were not such a big deal when volumes were low and wholesale prices predictable. 

Posted by: @toodles

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@jamespa And those pressures on LPA’s are EXTREMELY strong if the evidence of building monstrosities erected in our area in the last few years is anything to go by. Regrets, Toodles.

They are. 

• If they haven't got a plan for sufficient housing (as determined by a government formula) then their local plan is essentially invalid and developers can make a case to build anywhere with a presumption that permission should be given unless there is a very strong reason not to
• If they have got a plan then it specifies how much housing will be built and where, so there is a very strong presumption in favour of approval. 
• They can try arguing over design but much is in the remit of building regs not planning and its very difficult to argue 'out of character' on a new estate.
• Builders pay more than LPAs and oftet poach officers from the LPA to act on the opposite side
• Builders often argue non-viability in relation to obligations such as affordable housing.  Since non-viability stops the development it puts the LPA in jeopardy of effectively not having a local plan.  Of course they know whats in their 'books' and the LPAs know less and do not generally have the resource to do forensic analyses.
• Builders have vast amouts of money to fight appeals which LPAs do not, and of course if they lose there is the potential of having to pay costs.

The odds are definitely well stacked against the LPA.

Agree totally, the objective of the ToU tariffs is to move usage away from the peak timings, so if someone has a large enough battery to move HP usage away from peak timings, they should be allowed to do so. In just two months during winter, our HP consumes more electricity than what our EV consumes over the whole year. Even in the summer, our HP uses more for heating the hot water than for the EV.  So, why isn't the HP given the same treatment as an EV. 

Posted by: @jamespa

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I dont see why they really need to do this and anyway

Posted by: @jamespa

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Furthermore Go is simple, Cosy complex.  If you have a battery or a large slab and UFH I can see that Cosy is great, otherwise im not so sure. 

Agree that for Cosy to work well over winter a battery is essential.  But it need not necessarily be a large capacity.

As an example, my teeny 5kWh battery saw us through winter at an average cost of around 14-15p /kWh, easily outpacing what we would have spent on gas (calculated by direct comparison to last winter and also comparing the Cosy9 output to current gas prices at a SCOP of 3.66).  

The three cheap periods work well, giving three full charges over 8 hours that effectively meant that we often had 16+ hours of cheap lecky.

As for the Orangeone, the sooner this country can become fuel secure, the better (I read that the US is our largest supplier of oil...I did not know that).