This post is by Dustin Benton, senior policy adviser at Green Alliance
“I’m sure I’ll take you with pleasure!” the Queen said. “Two pence a week, and jam every other day.”
Alice couldn’t help laughing, as she said, “I don’t want you to hire ME – and I don’t care for jam.”
“It’s very good jam,” said the Queen.
“Well, I don’t want any TO-DAY, at any rate.”
“You couldn’t have it if you DID want it,” the Queen said. “The rule is, jam to-morrow and jam yesterday – but never jam to-day.”
“It MUST come sometimes to “jam to-day,”” Alice objected.
“No, it can’t,” said the Queen. “It’s jam every OTHER day: to-day isn’t any OTHER day, you know.”
“I don’t understand you,” said Alice. “It’s dreadfully confusing!”
From the perspective of an ordinary consumer, the debate over future energy bills looks a lot like this exchange from Alice in Wonderland. Everyone is talking about how to bring prices down, but it’s all ‘jam tomorrow’ (or, in the case of the first dash for gas, which brought our bills down in the 90s, ‘jam yesterday’). Real energy prices have roughly doubled since 2004, with a 17% rise over the past 12 months alone – driven in large measure by the rising wholesale price of gas. Read more