Standing charges are indeed where it's at. And what started as a relatively small surcharge to cover suppliers' overheads, and to stop many companies from effectively going under, has now turned into a stick with which to beat customers with.
So ultimately it matters little as to how many jumpers Cameron tells pensioners to put on or how little gas is consumed by conscientious spendthrifts, everyone will be hit the same.
When politicians assert their promise to freeze caps, it's actually the standing charge they pledge to stabilize, and as we're seeing now, those have risen into ridiculous and unsustainable levels, before one's even drawn the energy for usage, at circa 50p each for electricity and gas, with electricity having had the biggest increase. No more 7p a day, no siree!
We still use PAYG, despite companies' best efforts to cajole and even threaten smart meter installation as a must (it isn't, incidentally), and companies will do their utmost to tie consumers into contracts of sorts, often over many years, as many companies in many sectors now try to do.
Being beholden to smart meters and quarterly estimates is now proving to be somewhat 'problematic' as a result, with many customers even being offered 'take it or leave it' fixed prices to combat these increases, though often at double or triple their current costs. What's one to do....
Yet ultimately there's no escaping it, we're all going to foot the bill eventually, irrespective of what methods used, and sooner or later something has to give. And I'd suspect once the Government fully realizes this, we may see their hand forced. Not for a while yet, mind
