#energy-costs

#energy-costs

Last year, 51 electrical and gas utility companies in the U.S. paid their CEOs a collective $626 million, according to an analysis published last week by the Energy and Policy Institute.

The Bank of Canada said it was holding its key interest rate at 2.25 per cent on Wednesday. The bank was widely expected to look past the high cost of energy brought on by the war in Iran and hold rates.

55% of respondents to a Gallup poll conducted from April 1-15 reported that their financial situation is getting worse, an increase from 53% last year and 47% in 2024.

"Among the measures being modelled behind closed doors are the throttling of data speeds, restricting access during periods of high demand, and charging customers a premium at peak times, a move that would mark a significant departure from the all-you-can-eat tariffs that have dominated the British mobile market for more than a decade."

The UK unemployment rate fell from 5.2% to 4.9%, driven more by increased economic inactivity, particularly as fewer students sought work.

Gas-intensive industries in the UK have been shamefully ignored by the Government in this announcement, it's a total disgrace. Workers in manufacturing companies across the UK need urgent help; this isn't it.

Nearly half of firms (48%) expected turnover to grow over the next 12 months in the first quarter of the year, up from 42% in the final quarter of 2025.

The British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS) will be widened by 40 per cent, bringing an additional 3,000 firms under its umbrella. The scheme will exempt qualifying businesses from the indirect costs of three legacy green levies: the Renewables Obligation, Feed-in Tariffs and the Capacity Market.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lowered its global economic growth forecast as tensions between the United States and Iran have driven up energy and food costs globally. The IMF expected the global economy to grow by 3.1 percent this year, a slowdown from its earlier forecast of 3.3 percent.

The thinktank warned on Monday that surging gas, electricity and petrol prices had fundamentally altered the outlook for living standards in 2026. Before the Iran war erupted in late February, working-age households were tracking towards modest income growth of 0.9 per cent. That figure has now swung to a projected decline of 0.6 per cent, a turnaround worth £480 per household.

The Heatbit Maxi, a space heater that also mines bitcoin, is one such device. Residential electricity rates have corkscrewed to stratospheric heights in the US since 2020, rising more than 40 percent in the past six years as of February 2026.

Any escalation or expansion of hostilities could adversely affect global supply chains, commodity prices and macroeconomic conditions, highlighting the interconnectedness of geopolitical events and market stability.

Airfares are certainly the canary in the coal mine. No other major consumer good or service I can think of is as sensitive to energy costs.

Octopus Zero Bills is the next generation energy tariff with zero energy bills for the home, for 10 years, guaranteed. This represents a fundamental shift in how energy is consumed.

The extreme weather this winter is driving up bills. The heating system in a home can represent up to 40 to 70 percent of the energy bill.