Posted on 01/12/2023 7:06:50 AM PST by EBH
Forced prepayment meter installations by energy companies should be banned until new protections for vulnerable households are introduced, Citizens Advice has argued.
Based on Ofgem figures, Citizens Advice estimates that 600,000 people were forced onto a prepayment meter in 2022 because they couldn’t afford their energy bills.
It forecast that 160,000 more people could be moved onto a prepayment meter by the end of winter if no further action is taken.
More than one in five (19 per cent) prepayment meter customers cut off in the past year spent at least 24 hours without gas or electricity, leaving them unable to turn the heating on or cook a hot meal, the group found.
The consumer watchdog saw a 229 per cent increase in the last 12 months in the number of people coming for help who can’t afford to top up their prepayment meter, adding that it dealt with more people struggling to top up their prepayment meter last year than the whole of the last 10 years combined.
Worryingly, Citizens Advice also found that more than a third of prepayment meter homes where a disabled person or someone with a long term health-condition lives had their energy supply cut off at least once this winter.
This means more than 470,000 vulnerable households were temporarily left in the dark, despite Ofgem rules that vulnerable groups should not be forced onto prepayment meters.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
apparently they have to swipe their debit/credit card
Honestly, I find it quite horrifying to even consider.
A society with an abundance of cheap energy will only lead to the yearning for more freedom and liberty
Journalists masquerading as a math wizard. What else in the article is correct?
The UK has implemented a ban on the use of gas-powered central heating systems and hot water heaters.
It appears that a similar shift towards electric-powered solutions for transportation, heating, and hot water is being considered in the United States, despite potential concerns over the increased cost of electricity due to the decreased efficiency of heat pumps in colder temperatures.
The current government’s policy shift towards reliance on electric power could potentially make investing in electric utility companies a wise investment choice. It is likely that many individuals in positions of power have a financial stake in these companies.
If you have a prepayment meter, you’ll need to buy credit for your meter from a top-up point - often a local shop or Post Office. Your energy supplier will give you a top-up card or key.
If you find it hard to get to a top-up point, for example if you’d have to travel a long way - you could get a smart meter with a prepayment setting.
If you have a smart meter in prepayment setting, you can:
top up using your top-up card or key
top up online or through an app on your mobile phone
If you top up online, you should still keep your card or key in case you need to use it - for example, if the app isn’t working.
What the hell is a “prepayment meter”?
The calculation was in metric.
Just do what the brothers do in Chester PA.
Rip off the meter and jumper it with butter knives…
🤣
This is insane!........................
Impossible with the present infrastructure. Anyone with an IQ over room temperature knows that.
I saw that.............Math is not a required subject in journalism skoolze.............
It is a meter in your home or on your SMART thermostat. You prepay for the amount of energy you want to use.
So let’s say you plan for $100 this month, but rates go up 25%, you will have a shortfall and your power is cut off. You then need to login and add more $$ or go to a ‘top up’ location and add more $$.
Unlike stateside, we can do budget billing etc. and do not allow heating to be cut off in the winter time. And the consumer can negotiate rates and contracts. The prepayment meter system does not allow that, so the consumer is constantly paying for more and more expensive energy use.
A Pakistani co-worker once told me that everybody in Pakistan steals their electricity.
Do they attach a coin acceptor to the meter?
Like in those old British movies if you want gas ,LOL
Just wait until they put one on your toilet....................
Watched a you tube video series called Living On The Dole. They have to put money in a meter and it supplies a specific amount of electricity to the building.
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