Silly question of the day
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You're all probably going to think I'm stupid for asking this, but as you probably all think that anyway I've nothing to lose. But how does the Gas supply to your house work? Like I mean if I changed from British Gas to EDF today how does that physically work? I'm pretty sure that I haven't got a pipe that is connected direct to a British Gas plant that would be turned off and then EDF connect me up. I'm pretty sure I'd still be getting the Gas from the same facility, just I'd be paying someone else so how does this work?
Here in my parts, one's gas bill comes with two sets of figures (both, of course, charges). 1) Gas Delivery Fee - this pays the owner (custodian?) of the gas pipelines. Pays by how much gas you use. You're stuck with this. 2) Gas Fee - cost for the gas used (in Therms, thus normalized for to standard heat value). Item (2) is the one you euphemistically control. All the gas, at one point, is in the national pipelines. Much like the electric grid, all of it is combined and sorted. The suppliers, then, in theory are supplying gas to the pipeline (directly or by proxy) and selling it to you. They're pretty much acting as a broker. (1), of course, explains why one doesn't get a plumbing change - just a different billing envelope.
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"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
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Yeah this was what I was driving at as being the case. So what's stopping me from starting a company called PompeyGas and getting a share of the pie? I expect it's because I didn't go to Eton and I'm not a friend of David Cameron.
None, except you'd need to purchase gas forward under contract in order to get a good price from the supplier. These businesses make money on the "spread" between wholesale contract prices and what they can flog it to you for. They are absorbing part of the risk by predicting demand. I'm not saying that there isn't some sort of shell game happening here, but it's how retail open markets for utilities work. Now if you were a friend of David Cameron you'd no doubt say "that's free enterprise; it's good for the economy and jobs". I, like you, am not a friend of David Cameron! :)
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