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Energy suppliers in UK are facing a "massacre" as prices and demand skyrocket while supplies shrink to critical levels; U.S. consumers are next

By jdheyes // 2021-11-01

The energy crunch throughout Europe is about to hit the United Kingdom extremely hard, as suppliers simply cannot keep up with demand as colder temperatures are already setting in ahead of a bleak winter. What's more, energy suppliers in the UK are going bust at record numbers, with dozens more on the brink, according to a report this week from OilPrice.com, and it's all due to government socialism. "Another 20 energy providers in the UK could go bust in what looks like a 'massacre' in the coming months unless the government reviews the energy price cap, the chief executive of one of the largest providers said," the outlet reported. Already, "more than a dozen power suppliers in the UK have exited the retail energy market in recent weeks, and more are likely to do so, as wholesale gas prices rally," the outlet continued. There are a combination of factors contributing to the decreasing number of energy suppliers, most of them due to poor economics and a distinct lack of free-market capitalism. For instance, Europe's gas market is extremely tight right now because most of the left-wing governments on the continent have put far too many resources -- and too much faith -- into unreliable "green" energy. In addition to low gas stocks, low wind speeds have contributed to a decreased level of power generation. Also, "record carbon prices" -- that is, the price these nations charge energy producers to produce energy (costs that are then passed along to consumers, of course) "have combined in recent weeks to send benchmark gas prices and power prices in the largest economies to record highs," OilPrice.com reported. The outlet adds: The UK has a so-called Energy Price Cap in place, which protects households from too high bills by capping the price that providers can pass on to them, but which additionally burdens energy providers. Unless the UK government intervenes and reviews for raising the price cap soon, “we are in danger of just sleepwalking into an absolute massacre”, Keith Anderson, chief executive at ScottishPower, told the Financial Times. “We think probably in the next month at least another 20 suppliers will end up going bankrupt,” Anderson told SkyNews. At present, the price cap is costing energy providers about $6.9 billion, according to the senior executive at ScottishPower, one of the UK's largest utilities. And last month, the UK's chief energy regulator said that additional suppliers were set to go under after gas prices began climbing significantly, which put unprecedented cost burdens on smaller electricity and gas providers -- too much for most of them to handle. “I think what is different this time is that dramatic change in the costs that those suppliers are facing,” noted Jonathan Brearley, chief executive officer of Ofgem, the independent energy regulator for Great Britain, in September. Meanwhile, thanks to a shortage of natural gas in Europe and throughout the West, power plants have had to switch to using oil, which in turn is causing a shortage of that commodity as well. “The surge in prices has swept through the entire global energy chain. Higher energy prices are also adding to inflationary pressures that, along with power outages, could lead to lower industrial activity and a slowdown in the economic recovery,” the International Energy Agency said this month. And here's another issue negatively affecting the price of natural gas: Shipping it has become far more costly as well. “I don’t remember a time when so many extreme events were happening in shipping,” Ben Nolan, an industry analyst who has covered the sector for nearly two decades, notes. He added that spot shipping rates, or one-time costs of shipping liquified natural gas, “surged 40 percent in one day – Oct. 15 – on already high levels.” Under Donald Trump, America was energy independent and we had become a net LNG exporter; today, under Biden, we are dependent again and supplies are low while prices are high. Those are the real costs of a stolen election. Sources include: Bubble.news OilPrice.com PowerGrid.news

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