Four energy suppliers will offer low standing charge tariffs from April: Should you wait to fix your bill?
Ofgem has confirmed a 12-month trial of low and no standing charge tariffs. If you're keen to save money on your energy, should you fix now - or wait?
Spring Statement is next week: What should we expect and what does it mean for your finances?
Chancellor Rachel Reeves will deliver her Spring Statement next week and provide an update on the country's finances.
Southern California Air Board Rejects Pollution Rules After AI-Generated Flood of Comments
Southern California's air quality board rejected proposed rules to phase out gas-powered appliances after receiving more than 20,000 opposition comments generated through CiviClick, "the first and best AI-powered grassroots advocacy platform." Phys.org reports: A Southern California-based public affairs consultant, Matt Klink, has taken credit for using CiviClick to wage the opposition campaign, including in a sponsored article on the website Campaigns and Elections. The campaign "left the staff of the Southern California Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) reeling," the article says. It is not clear how AI was deployed in the campaign, and officials at CiviClick did not respond to repeated requests for comment. But their website boasts several tools, including "state of the art technology and artificial intelligence message assistance" that can be used to create custom advocacy letters, as opposed to repetitive form letters or petitions often used in similar campaigns.
When staffers at the air district reached out to a small sample of people to verify their comments, at least three said they had not written to the agency and were not aware of any such messages, records show. But the email onslaught almost certainly influenced the board's June decision, according to agency insiders, who noted that the number of public comments typically submitted on agenda items can be counted on one hand.
The proposed rules were nearly two years in the making and would have placed a fee on natural gas-powered water heaters and furnaces, favoring electric ones, in an effort to reduce air pollution in the district, which includes Orange County and large swaths of Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Gas appliances emit nitrogen oxides, or NOx -- key pollutants for forming smog. The implications are troubling, experts said, and go beyond the use of natural gas furnaces and heaters in the second-largest metropolitan area in the country.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Essex council leader says she will fight plans for 1,300 new homes
She called the proposed 1,300-home estate 'unsustainable development' but the developer says the site will 'reflect local priorities'
Millionaire fitness guru's trainer has the last laugh after her former boss SUED her for stealing choreography from cult workout classes
Cult fitness guru Tracy Anderson sued Megan Roup, her former employee - igniting a years-long legal showdown between the glamorous gym entrepreneurs.
Ex-security guard for Harrods boss caught in Essex with huge cocaine haul
Bradley Pritchard, formerly employed at an Essex hospital and airport, told court he turned to drug dealing after borrowing from a loan shark
Behind the scenes of ITV new series shoot in peaceful Essex seaside town
Josie Gibson was seen filming at multiple locations across Burnham this week
Ex-security guard for Harrods boss caught in Essex with huge cocaine haul
Bradley Pritchard, formerly employed at an Essex hospital and airport, told court he turned to drug dealing after borrowing from a loan shark
Tributes to 'great role model' Essex mum who lost long battle with dementia
Maureen Russell, from Harwich, died on Wednesday, February 4.
Paedophile doctor who asked ‘children’ if they'd had sex in online chat suspended
He was handed a suspended prison sentence
Heartbreaking new details emerge in Robert Carradine's death at age 71
The actor's death was announced by his brother on Monday. New details about his tragic passing came to light on Friday.
How little sex leads to divorce? Five women reveal EXACTLY how much they made love in the year before they split. The eye-opening results may have you ringing your lawyer...
You might assume you would be able to tell if your marriage was in trouble from the state of your sex life. But does a healthy sex life always indicate a healthy marriage?
My secret cash habit pushed me and my husband of 29 years to the brink of divorce... this is the change I made to save our marriage
I felt the usual flush of excitement as I raced to the front door last autumn and grabbed my parcel from the delivery driver. I had no intention of letting my husband Andrew see what I'd bought.
'What happens if your engine fails? You die like an officer and a gentleman': One of last surviving Bomber Command pilots reveals heroic WWII service for first time aged 104
Colin Bell describes how his commander refused to ground his squadron's aircraft despite fears of an engine problem - and said if it failed they would 'die like an officer and a gentleman'
The cell phone mistake by Nancy Guthrie's abductor that may finally lead to a break in the case
Digital forensic investigator Heather Barnhart reveals how technology could led to Nancy Guthrie's abductor.
Cruel fate of the penguins trapped in London basement who NEVER see sunlight or fresh air: It's a scandal that will enrage animal lovers, says LIZ JONES. This is the heartless story of company raking it in from them... and how YOU can help end their…
It's a controversy that has sparked protests and petitions. Yet Sea Life London Aquarium still exhibits 15 Gentoo penguins in an 'underground bunker'
Farmer banned from McDonald's after using Drive-Thru in horse and wagon
Allen Hatch, 53, said that that he and his horses had been '86ed from McDonald's' following the spur of the moment trip.
Prosecutors to DROP two charges against trio of playboy Alexander brothers accused of raping multiple women
The three brothers - Oren, Alon and Tal Alexander - are accused of drugging, raping and trafficking dozens of women over a campaign that lasted more than a decade.
Woman, 19, baked to death in walk-in Walmart oven... now official report into tragedy has shared very troubling finding
Gursimran Kaur, 19, was found dead inside a walk-in bakery oven, and the province now releasing its official findings.
'I saw nothing... I did nothing wrong': Bill Clinton insists he had 'no idea' about Epstein's crimes and tells inquiry he won't 'play detective'
The former American president also warned members of the House Oversight Committee that he did not recall much about his 'brief acquaintance' with the late paedophile financier.