We will start by examining the changes in the cost of a unit of gas and electricity to consumers between 2004 and 2011. The price change data for British Gas, one of the Big Six, was taken from here. If an arbitrary cost to the consumer of 10 pence per unit of electricity and gas is chosen as a starting point then we can see a 130% increase in the cost of gas and 90% increase in the cost of electricity to consumers over last seven years.

If the cost of raw materials really is the largest contributor to operating costs then the wholesale cost of natural gas between 2004 and 2011 needs to be examined. The cost of gas peaked towards the end of 2005 and during 2008, which co-occurs with increases in the cost of gas to consumers. However, if we cross-reference the fall of the wholesale cost of gas in 2009 with the fall in consumer costs in 2009, we can see a discrepancy: wholesale costs dropped approximately 300% but consumer costs dropped 20%. This is assuming that energy companies buy natural gas at the same cost, which may not be the case.

The pre-tax profits of Scottish & Southern Energy, another of the Big Six, increased by almost 30% in 2008, when the cost of gas peaked and their profits have remained at a high level. Could this be because of the substantial decrease in wholesale cost against an almost identical cost to the consumer?

Raymond Jack, Scottish Power’s UK retail director, said on 7th June 2011:

“Wholesale prices for gas and electricity have increased significantly since the end of last year, and continuing unrest in global energy markets means future prices are volatile. We understand times are difficult for many people, and we have done what we can to absorb these additional costs for as long as possible to minimise the impact on our customers.

“The rising burden of non-energy costs faced by Britain’s energy suppliers – including the cost of meeting government environmental and social programmes and the cost of distributing electricity on the national grid – has also placed further upward pressure on energy bills.”

The emphasis is mine. We have already shown that energy companies were continuing to charge consumers at a price point that allowed them to make a profit when natural gas was at its peak but have wholesale costs really increased significantly since the end of 2010? Strictly speaking, the increase in costs since December 2010 is $0.50 per mBtu but energy companies were still charging consumers when the cost of gas was at its peak and the cost of wholesale gas is currently less than it was in January 2004.

What else might be causing the upward pressure on energy bills? It doesn’t seem like the cost of raw materials is driving up the consumer costs, it’s the desire to pay above inflation dividends to shareholders. The Chief Executive of Scottish & Southern Energy recently said:

“Our entire investment program is designed to give that continuing momentum to dividend beyond 2013,”

The utility, which has paid shareholders an above-inflation dividend payment every year for the last 12, committed to paying a full-year dividend of at least 2 percent more than inflation in fiscal year 2012 and 2013. Revenue from new customers and generation projects due to come online this year and next will underpin dividend payouts, Chief Executive Ian Marchant said on a conference call today.

In summary, we have found that energy companies increased consumer costs during the peaks of 2005 and 2008 to cope with the increased cost of wholesale natural gas. However, the subsequent and sustained drop in wholesale costs since 2009 has not been passed onto consumers, which has resulted in record and sustained profits for the energy companies for the previous three financial years. The energy companies are now increasing consumer costs from a baseline designed to deliver profits when wholesale costs were almost 300% higher than they are today.

• Contact details for previous landlord
• Address history
• “Watch Everything is Illuminated” [not watched]
• Attempt at a morning routine with time allocated for tasks such as exercise, washing, and eating [not adhered to]
• Employment History
• MacBook pricing options
• List of shows to see at Edinburgh International Festival 2009
• Advice on buying an SLR
• Unknown phone number
• Electricity and Gas meter readings
• Vacuum filter product number

“Have you seen a truly awful piece of Photoshop work? Clumsy manipulation, senseless comping, lazy cloning and thoughtless retouching are our bread and butter. And yes, deep down, we love Photoshop.”

Photoshop Disasters

How can you not love seeing some Escher furniture or wheelless aeroplane?

There must be a better indicator of whether someone is likely to purchase an item than “looked at it”.

You can see more photographs in the Flickr set.

Bonus: Clicking on an album cover will lead you to a legal stream of the album so you can check it out.

Ask yourself this: can you ever remember being willing to pay £16.99 for a CD?

Randy’s Postcards from Purgatory

An outstanding, entertaining, and engaging puppet-show. I strongly recommended it to everyone who would listen, however, I think the stigma of puppet-show was too much to overcome. (A alternative reason is my friends don’t trust my recommendations!) Randy was a children’s entertainer telling us about this life and relationships and how it was all messed up. The writing was excellent and the performance was brilliant. I’m sure from time-to-time I’ll fondly remember Randy shouting “WHERE’S WILLIAAAAAAAAAAAM?”

Orchestre des Champs-Elysees

I have been building an interest in Classical music since living in Bristol – Jim regularly listened to BBC Radio 3 when he drove us into work. Seeing a live orchestra was an great experience, there was much more energy than can be conveyed over the radio or on a CD.

Power Plant

I didn’t know anything about this until I saw a 5-star review on somebody else’s newspaper on the Glasgow Underground. Power Plant was an incredible light and sound exhibition at the Edinburgh Botanic Gardens Glasshouses. There were some beautiful touches like the flame pipes producing rhythms and sitting on the couches looking over the disco ball palm trees. It’s difficult to explain this exhibition but I strongly recommend seeing it on tour. I didn’t take any photographs because it wouldn’t do this exhibition justice.

Fireworks Concert

I queued for tickets to watch the concert from Prices Street Gardens and I would do it again. Hopefully I will remember ear buds for next year because fireworks have never sounded so loud. A friend managed to take some great photographs of the display and this is the best quality recording of the concert I have been able to find:

The only restriction on taking photographs was that you couldn’t use a flash. Here are two pieces I particularly enjoyed. Overall, the exhibition was playful and I liked how you were forced to explore the entire museum to see everything.

The exhibition is on until 31st August and entry is free, however, you are advised that you may need to queue for at two-to-three hours. See twenty-one more photographs in the set.