The head of the UK's Office of Gas and Electricity Markets announced on Tuesday that the energy price cap might drop below the £3,000 mark as early as April, a prediction that could save the government billions of pounds.
It is “possible” that drops in the wholesale cost of gas and electricity could mean that bills for the average household would fall below that level, said Jonathan Brearley, Ofgem's chief executive.
The prediction is more optimistic than recent projections from independent analysts at Cornwall Insight, who last week forecast the price cap would still top £3,200 in April before falling significantly in July.
If the price cap falls a little below £3,000 for the average household in April, it would only save customers a small amount, as they were set to pay £3,000 anyway under the government’s price guarantee.
But it could save billions in taxpayer money. The government has promised to pay suppliers to make up the difference between what they are allowed to charge customers and the price they have to pay to buy energy.
Speaking at an Institute for Government event, Mr Brearley said predictions were still very uncertain, but sounded a rare note of optimism for troubled bill payers.
“On our current projections, although gas prices do remain volatile, the price cap level may fall below the energy price guarantee level in July, and possibly do so as early as April,” he said.
“This will save billions of pounds of the expected public spending on that measure.
“Although highly uncertain, it’s possible that prices may fall well below this throughout the summer, which would be welcome news for all customers, both households and business.”
Green energy sources — in pictures
Mr Brearley also reiterated his support for a new “social tariff”, which would mean that less well off households pay less for the energy they use.
“The root cause for some customers, despite the enormous widespread support by government, is their inability to pay for their basic energy needs,” he said.
“Therefore, we think there is a case for examining, with urgency, a social tariff that limits the impact of extremely high prices and reduces volatility for a defined set of vulnerable groups.
“To be clear, this tariff would need to be subsidised when prices are high, and preferably paid for through funds raised in a progressive way.”
He said it was down to the government to decide how to design such a tariff, including deciding who would receive it.
The UK's energy crisis — video
In a wide-ranging speech, Mr Brearley said the UK needs to move “as rapidly as possible” away from the international gas market, which has been manipulated by Russia over the past two years.
To help with this, he called for the biggest buildout of new energy infrastructure in more than half a century.
“We will need to build new energy infrastructure at a pace not seen for decades,” he said.
“When you look at our history, the period immediately after the Second World War most closely resembles the pace and scale that we need to build.
“From 1950 to 1970, Great Britain’s electricity generation capacity expanded around four-fold its original size.
“Since then, the system has been largely stable in terms of our networks.”
Mr Brearley added: “To meet the scale of future energy demand between now and 2050, we will need again to build out our infrastructure — onshore, offshore and connecting to other countries — at an extraordinary pace not seen for over half a century.
“This is a huge challenge, but also a huge economic opportunity.”
$1,000 award for 1,000 days on madrasa portal
Daily cash awards of $1,000 dollars will sweeten the Madrasa e-learning project by tempting more pupils to an education portal to deepen their understanding of math and sciences.
School children are required to watch an educational video each day and answer a question related to it. They then enter into a raffle draw for the $1,000 prize.
“We are targeting everyone who wants to learn. This will be $1,000 for 1,000 days so there will be a winner every day for 1,000 days,” said Sara Al Nuaimi, project manager of the Madrasa e-learning platform that was launched on Tuesday by the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, to reach Arab pupils from kindergarten to grade 12 with educational videos.
“The objective of the Madrasa is to become the number one reference for all Arab students in the world. The 5,000 videos we have online is just the beginning, we have big ambitions. Today in the Arab world there are 50 million students. We want to reach everyone who is willing to learn.”
Anna and the Apocalypse
Director: John McPhail
Starring: Ella Hunt, Malcolm Cumming, Mark Benton
Three stars
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Expo details
Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia
The world fair will run for six months from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021.
It is expected to attract 25 million visits
Some 70 per cent visitors are projected to come from outside the UAE, the largest proportion of international visitors in the 167-year history of World Expos.
More than 30,000 volunteers are required for Expo 2020
The site covers a total of 4.38 sqkm, including a 2 sqkm gated area
It is located adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South
Results
6.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (Dirt) 1,200m; Winner: Major Cinnamon, Fernando Jara, Mujeeb Rahman
7.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (D) 1,900m; Winner: Al Mureib, Fernando Jara, Ahmad bin Harmash
7.40pm: Handicap (TB) Dh102,500 (D) 2,000m; Winner: Remorse, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
8.15pm: Conditions (TB) Dh120,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Meshakel, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer
8.50pm: Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Desert Peace, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (D) 1,400m; Winner: Sharamm, Ryan Curatlo, Satish Seemar
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VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
Read more about the coronavirus
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if you go
The flights
Etihad, Emirates and Singapore Airlines fly direct from the UAE to Singapore from Dh2,265 return including taxes. The flight takes about 7 hours.
The hotel
Rooms at the M Social Singapore cost from SG $179 (Dh488) per night including taxes.
The tour
Makan Makan Walking group tours costs from SG $90 (Dh245) per person for about three hours. Tailor-made tours can be arranged. For details go to www.woknstroll.com.sg
