Households Endure Another Year of Energy Bill Misery Due to ‘Volatile’ Market

Published on December 26, 2023

Households have endured yet another year of energy bill misery as the ongoing effects of the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine highlighted the UK’s susceptibility to the highly volatile wholesale market. The year started with Ofgem’s energy price cap rocketing to more than £4,000 a year for the typical household, although households received £400 towards their bills, which were limited by the government’s energy price guarantee to an average £2,500. Bills have dropped since then, but the price cap will rise slightly again to just over £1,900 from Jan. 1—still significantly higher than before the energy crisis began. Charities have warned that many households are struggling to pay for their energy, and that more than one million of the UK’s most vulnerable adults will be living in “Dickensian” cold and damp homes this Christmas....

Continue reading on website
Other news

California Cities, Counties Bracing for Impact of State’s Record Budget Deficit

December 26, 2023
With the state facing a $68 billion budget deficit, local governments are preparing to re-evaluate spending anticipating funding cuts from state agencies. Part of the issue is expected tax revenue was far less than anticipated, which could deepen the deficit to $155 billion by 2025, the state’s Legislative Analyst reported earlier this month.Facing back-to-back years of a deficit, spending cuts ar

Taxing You ‘Just for Existing’

December 26, 2023
CommentarySen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) has proposed a “billionaires tax.” Laughably, the first thing you notice about it is that it targets trusts value at … $100 million. To the insatiably greedy and shamelessly profligate federal government, some $34 trillion in the red, a pittance like $900 million is a mere rounding error. Still, Mr. Wyden must have thought that christening it a mere “multimilliona