energyuk's Xanga

Human Shrub Protest

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:41:50 GMT

Quite bizzare story from the Telegraph this weekend - a man dressed as a shrub has been planting brightly coloured flowers in a town centre planter, protesting against his local councils plans to cut back on plants to save money.

In a statement to The Telegraph, the Human Shrub said:

"The elected politicians responsible for destroying our shrubs must halt this destruction with immediate effect.

"The councillors responsible for this massacre should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves and resign immediately."

Has anyone that lives in Colchester seen the Human Shrub in action? Let us know.............................

Ofgem Announce New Energy Rules

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 09:35:27 GMT

Ofgem has announced that there will be new rules banning energy companies from charging unjustified prices.

From now on energy companies will have to reflect the costs for different payment options like pre-payment cards.

Ofgem has been looking into how well the energy market is working, if at all, and has been investigating since February 2008.

Ofgem found that the market was working well and there were no signs of collusion in amongst the big six of price fixing.

However it did have concerns over the difference in pricing for people that pay their bills in certain ways and in deals for customers with no gas supply.

12% of customers pay by pre-payment meter but around 38% of those are in social housing.

To service a pre-payment meter will cost £85 where as customers have been getting charged around £125 per year for that service, the new rule will state that no customer should more than the cost of the service.

Under the proposed rules:
•    Different payment methods will have to reflect the cost to the supplier of offering those methods
•    Energy companies must provide an annual statement to customers providing details such as the tariff,               consumption and a reminder of the customer's right to switch
•    An at-a-glance price scorecard on bills to make it easier for consumers to switch
•    Small businesses to be given clear contracts with no automatic rollover when the agreement ended
•    Written quotes on doorstep sales.

This is an emphatic move by Ofgem and hopefully will lead the way in getting cheap, green electricity to all energy customers in the UK at affordable prices.

Lib Dems Target Zero Carbon UK

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 10:58:29 GMT

Clegg Plans Green Energy for the UK

Hot on the heels of ex US Vice-President Al Gore call for a Zero Carbon United States by 2010, UK Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has set the UK a similar challenge - become energy inependent by 2050. Writing in The Guardian, Clegg outlined his proposal which he claims needs ambition comparable to getting man on the moon. According to Clegg, the UK has the potential to be a 'vangauard of green technology', creating jobs and revitalising the industry in the process.

Plans to cut household energy use would utilise the energy companies, 'asking them to fund a major programme to insulate every British home over 10 years and install "smart meters" that cut help families use less'. Also those who generate renewable energy will be able to supply the grid through 'feed in tariffs'.

All in all, Clegg has to be applauded for tackling the renewable energy issue in a constructive manner. Hopefully, this will ignite the green energy debate and increase the political will to move forward with ambitious green energy plans.

smile666

Simple steps to lower your bills

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 13:31:46 GMT

I recently came across this electricity blog, it's based in the US but it has lessons that we can all use to lower our electricity bills without having to change energy supplier.

The tips are really simple but as you can see are about to save you quite a bit of cash on your energy bills in the long run.

Enjoy!

Green supplier

Renewable power everywhere!

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 09:37:46 GMT

I was amazed when I saw this, it truly is a step in the right direction [no pun intended] check out this article in the International Herald Tribune.

This sort of technology will over come the planning issues associated with renewable power sources such as wind and hydro.

Wind turbines blocked

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 16:07:55 GMT

Scottish Executive block winds farm project

BBC¹ announced today that the Scottish Executive² is planning on blocking the eco-friendly wind farm proposed for the Isle of Lewis. The proposed development would see over 180 wind turbine towers erected across the Isle of Lewis countryside.

The Executive buckled under local pressure in the form of 5000 letters being delivered to the Scottish Executive. Local of Lewis complained that the area would be ruin both economically and environmentally if they to build the wind farm.

This decision shows a stark contrast between planning policies and eco-policies in the UK government. If eco-policies and planning are not in sync it will make it very difficult to push environmentally energy sources through the system hence having a knock on effect on lowering the UK’s green house gases and bringing emissions in line with the rest of Europe.

All about the news...well energy news!

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 09:31:36 GMT

What to expect...

I set this blog up so that I can talk and discusses things energy related.

Pitch in!