YourHomeBills.com

Scottish and Southern Energy has been named as the most environmental and ethical company on the London Stock Exchange.

The company came top of The Observer Good Companies Guide and was praised for its work in renewable energy and also its attitude to its customers. It was slower than the other UK energy suppliers in passing on increased wholesale charges to customers and was also the first to reduce tariffs when the costs reduced.

The ongoing credit crunch has pushed social and environmental concerns to the side as rising unemployment and a receding economy have become the focus.

Compare gas and electricity energy tariffs at YourHomeBills.com

Posted by Utility Searcher at 6:26 AM | Permalink | Comments

The Bank of England may cust interest rates further after the release of minutes from from the meeting where rates were lowered from 4.5% to 3% at the begininning of November.

Committee members all voted in favour for the cut on 6th November, but an even larger reduction was considered.

The Bank minutes show that calculations pointed out that a cut to 2.5% would be required to prevent inflation falling too low next year. But such a move would be too much of a shock so the decision was tekn to opt for 3%. This percentage point cut was the largest reduction since 1981 and rates are now at their lowest level since 1955.

The Bank was concerned that an even bigger cut could result in a sharp fall in the value of the pound that could create inflationary issues.

Some economists are predicting that rates may fall to as low as 1% in the coming year.

Help your money go further and start saving on the cost of your utilities at YourHomeBills.com

Posted by Utility Searcher at 4:27 AM | Permalink | Comments

The Conservative Party has promised to ban UK gas and electricity suppliers from charging higher rates to customers on pre-payment meters.

"It is completely unacceptable that the most vulnerable on pre-payment meters should be targeted by the energy companies to pay more than their fair share - the practice should be banned at once," said Greg Clark, the Shadow Energy Secretary.

Mr Clark also outlined that his party would see to it that British gas and electricity suppliers explain clearly to their customers whether they are on the cheapest tariff available to them, how much they could save if they switched tariff and how to change their energy tariff.

Save money on your gas and electricity bills with YourHomeBills.com.

Posted by Utility Searcher at 1:28 PM | Permalink | Comments

The UK's second largest energy provider, Scottish and Southern Energy, has admitted it is "optimistic" that domestic gas and electricity prices may be lowered in early 2009.

The company believes that if wholesale gas and electricity prices continue to fall then it will be able to deliver price reductions for its domestic customers during the first quarter of 2009.

Consumer groups have continually warned that people will face a financial struggle duing this winter owing to the energy price hikes of 2008. Scottish and Southern Energy were one of the big six suppliers that increased their energy prices twice in 2008. As a result they have come under pressure to reduce home energy bills after recent drops in the wholesale pricing of gas and electricity.

Save money on your energy bills with YourHomeBills.com.

Labels: Energy, Energy Comparison, Energy news

Posted by Utility Searcher at 11:18 AM | Permalink | Comments

Steam power may be a throwback to the industrial revolution but British engineers have been developing technology that improves the efficiency of vehicle engines by turning their waste heat into power.

Clean Power Technologies, from Newhaven, is developing hybrid steam engines that utilise some of the energy released by the internal combustion engine. The aim of the technology is to eventually be able to partly run a car on steam.

Abdul Mitha, the CEO and president of CPT said, "Anywhere where you are wasting a lot of heat, we can go in, capture the heat and turn it into energy savings ... Steam has tremendous power. If it can drive a steam locomotive, why can't it drive an automotive engine?"

The technology will focus on the heat that is pushed out of the exhaust and converting this back into power. The statistics speak for themselves – from the energy stored in an average petrol tank only 27% is used to propel the car forward, 33% is used to cool the engine, 4% disappears as friction but astonishingly a massive 36% is pushed out as exhaust heat.

The company is starting by using the energy to power refrigeration tanks on board delivery vehicles, but the overall aim is to pipe the steam from the exhaust into the main combustion engine and utilise it to drive a number of the pistons.

If you have been inspired by this article then why not try saving money on your energy bills with YourHomeBills.com.

Posted by Utility Searcher at 6:44 AM | Permalink | Comments

The government has annoucned that homebuyers will not be required to pay stamp duty on homes costing £175,000 or less for the next year.

Alistair Darling confirmed that the current £125,000 threshold is due to be increased to help boost the housing market.

The government believes that around half of all property transactions in the UK will be exempt from stamp duty as a result of the move - an increase from the 33% when the threshold was at the £125,000 mark. It means those buying houses worth £175,000 will stand to save around £1,750.

The government also announced "Free" five year loans worth up to 30% of the value of new properties being purchased by first time buyers.

If you want to save even more money on your home bills then visit us today and save on gas and electric, home phone, home insurance, car insurance and much more.

Posted by Utility Searcher at 9:57 AM | Permalink | Comments

A group of MPs are calling for a one-off ‘windfall’ tax on the profits of the UK’s leading energy firms.

Support for the movement has grown around the idea which is seen as a possible solution to help those people struggling with the soaring cost of energy bills. The tax would mirror the £4.5bn windfall tax that was raised against the utility firms in 1997 when Labour came to power.

The MPs have argued in an open letter that recent wholesale fuel price rises earn oil companies huge windfall profits which in turn have fuelled inflation, pushing up the cost of home energy supply. The group suggest that if a tax on the profits of the UK’s largest domestic energy suppliers and the oil companies themselves was approved, it could alleviate the fuel poverty that threatens the poor and elderly.

The letter also highlighted the £2.5bn increase in combined profits of the big six energy firms since 2003. Centrica, the owner of British Gas returned a profit of £2.1bn in 2007 and £994m in the first half of 2008, with wholesale prices rising 120%.

Energy Company Profits in 2007/8

Shell: £13.9bn
BP: £9.3bn
Centrica: £2.1bn
Scottish & Southern Energy: £1.2bn
Scottish Power: £1.0bn
EDF Energy UK: £957m
E.ON UK: £877m
Npower: £694m

Posted by Utility Searcher at 4:39 AM | Permalink | Comments