5 Dec '10: When people consider payback, they look at the price of energy and the time scale, and then relate back to initial cost. If future prices rise, your payback gets quicker - because you are using your own power and do not have to buy in. The amount you paid a few years back seems less as time helps the painful memory on the installation costs recede.
Electricity has tripled in the last 10 yrs, and the rate of change was slowed by the cheapness of North sea oil and cheap Columbian coal in the 80s and 90s which kept the price level until 2000 - in fact the realistic price adjusted for inflation became considerably cheaper because the RPI continued to rise during those times, but 5p remained 5p throughout. That ended with the turn of the century.
You can be sure that with no more discoveries of local cheap fuel likely, power costs can only go up faster. Here is a typical list of prices in the last 25 years.
Southern Electric:
1984 Aug 4.900 + No VAT
1985 Aug 5.070
1986 Aug 5.360
1987 Feb 5.090
1988 Aug 5.700
1989 Nov 6.040
1990 Aug 6.590
1990 May 6.040
1990 Nov 6.590
1991 Aug 7.330
1992 Aug 7.490
1993 Nov 7.270
1994 Feb 7.170
1994 May 7.170 + 8% VAT
1995 Aug 7.000
1996 Nov 6.720
1997 Jul 6.160
1997 Nov 6.160 + 5% VAT
1998 Aug 6.040
Independent Energy:
2000 Mar 5.350
2000 Sept 5.200
npower:
2001 Mar 5.200
2001 Aug 4.630
2001 Nov 4.770
2003 Aug 10.190 / 5.910 (£13.41/quarter standing charge gone, first is on first 182 units)
2003 Nov 10.600 / 6.140
2004 Aug 12.650 / 6.140
2005 Feb 13.700 / 6.140
2006 Feb 15.530 / 7.200
2006 May 17.780 / 8.240
2006 Nov 19.540 / 9.060
2007 May 17.400 / 8.440
2008 Jan 12.060 / 11.510
2009 Feb 14.570 / 13.900
2009 Mar 13.190 / 12.580
(I am indebted to an 'energy historian' on the Navitron forum who has kept all his bills for the last 25 years.)
Great article, very interesting and true in more ways then one. Most of the time i would be moving in and out of middle class and poverty.
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