I’m glad I haven’t gone smart meter, if what you are saying they don’t bill promptly. I got caught out winter 2020 with the WFH and all the extra heat generated by electricity, and relying on quarterly readings. Scarey given how expensive it is now. I can see the impact of using say the drier has, by taking a reading a couple of times a week.
Never had an issue with my smart meter and billing, if anything changing the gap between when it captures reads and sends to the supplier to half hourly from monthly meant I could use my suppliers online account stuff where they would plot usage in a bar chart for each 30min gap, it runs a day or so behind but gives some good insights, I can look and see where large chunks of KWH or £££ are being spent and relate this to what was going on in the home, it also let me run a test between running my tumble dryer to dry a load vs the dehumidifier to see what was cheaper.
My hamster told me to fix at 12p kwh economy 7 and 25p kwh day rate. He's been getting extra sunflower seeds for that bit of sage.
Feeling so smug i deserve a punch in the face.
Never had an issue with my smart meter and billing, if anything changing the gap between when it captures reads and sends to the supplier to half hourly from monthly meant I could use my suppliers online account stuff where they would plot usage in a bar chart for each 30min gap, it runs a day or so behind but gives some good insights, I can look and see where large chunks of KWH or £££ are being spent and relate this to what was going on in the home, it also let me run a test between running my tumble dryer to dry a load vs the dehumidifier to see what was cheaper.
same .
seems the fringe case issues are sound justification for tinfoil hattery.
also quarterly readings - in 2020 ...... did you fax those back to 1988?
We were paying £92/month with OVO before all this kicked off.
Now we are with Octopus. They didn't change our DD, but have sent an e-mail in the last few days to say that we aren't paying enough (no shit, sherlock) and are putting our direct debit up to £208! That is to cover the increase in fuel & the £200 we have gone into debit.
From Oct to end Mar, we seem to have used £140 a month, so I would have thought that somewhere around £160 a month was more reasonable, but am happy for it to go up and get back into credit then reassess.
We are lucky, in that we can afford the increase costs. We will have to rein ourselves in, in other areas but we won't struggle to pay. I feel sorry for the people who are already having to choose between heating & food.
With regards to the fuel costs mentioned on the previous page - I am hoping they start to come down a bit now, but am not sure if that is wishful thinking or likely to happen.
Driving to work & back last week at a steady 65mph with the cruise control on, got me 65mpg on the way into work & 71.5mpg on the way back. It was a lot warmer on the drive home than the drive into work.
Luckily (or not depending on your viewpoint) we are back to working from home full-time rather than 3 days back in the office. So that will save me a chunk of cash over the next month.
solar panels and battery storage ordered, been a absolute mare getting quotes in. Fitting won't happen until October as they are that busy.
Stand by for the best summer ever and the worst winter ever.
Not read the whole thread, but rather than start a new one, thought I'd ask here...
Naive question... I am on a fixed product until Dec 2023, but on todays bill the standing charge has doubled since last month.
Does the 'fixed' element only apply to the unit rate?
Further review of February bill, compared to March seems to be showing a different tariff. I have had no contact from them to say they are charging the tariff..
February
[url= https://i.postimg.cc/Cx3BrP5H/IMG-20220328-211458.jp g" target="_blank">https://i.postimg.cc/Cx3BrP5H/IMG-20220328-211458.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
March
[url= https://i.postimg.cc/RFfTbJvq/IMG-20220328-211402.jp g" target="_blank">https://i.postimg.cc/RFfTbJvq/IMG-20220328-211402.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
My energy bill has gone from £80 to £324 a month. My wife doesn't work now because we have 4 month old twins. Everything else has gone up in price. Luckily we have saved some cash for rainy days, but that pot in only finite. The only option we can both realistically see if we downsize our house to reduce our mortgage and have some cash in the bank.
As a 40% tax payer myself I cant envisage there is any help out there for me/us, but the situation is chronically bad due to our circumstances and its unsustainable.
Everyone's energy supplier app/ website ground to a halt today?
I'm in a shambles of a position
Moved into a new build house last May with British Gas as the supplier. Set up my account with them with the plan that I'd sort out the best deal with whoever once we had the move completed.
The BG call centre is abysmal. Couldn't understand a word I said. They managed to fail to set up my direct debit, despite telling me they had, and also set up my online account access with an email address that bore no relation to the one I gave them, so I couldn't access anything.
Eventually got the direct debit sorted but they were unable to grasp what was wrong with my online account, so I decided to switch to Scottish Power last August on a 2 year fixed deal.
Switchover day comes and I discover Scottish Power have cancelled the gas switch without telling me but the electricity had switched over. Called them straight away and they promised they'd sort it. That was in September and I'm still waiting. Cannot get anyone to answer a phone when I call. Tried the online chat, they told me to call a number. That number was new business sales and they can't help. The customer service number just tells me everyone is busy and I should call back later then hangs up.
In the meantime, I eventually get access to my BG account, who are allegedly still supplying my gas. From what I can tell, they haven't actually setup my gas account. It doesn't appear anywhere on my account profile. All I can see is electricity bills from the time I had that with them. It won't let me enter meter readings, it won't let me change the direct debit I'm still paying them. Again, tried to get their customer service to sort it out but they haven't got a clue and they keep telling my it's a temporary glitch with the website and it'll be sorted soon.
Luckily I'm keeping all my meter readings on a daily basis, but energy companies really are utter shit.
For the first time since all this started, it seems it's possibly worth fixing
Personally, I've decided to take the EDF 2 year fix, it's not great, it's 25% more than the current cap, but at least usage is low now and it's a lot lower than the 45-50% predicted rise in Oct.
Best guesses seem to be a 10% reduction in the cap next April, but that'll still be lower than the price I've fixed to, the first time I could meaningfully 'lose' is Oct 2023, I could in theory still exit, but it's £300 to do so, I should 'win' over-all and when it ended in June 2024 it should be to a much lower rate, which will be nice.
The risks I've considered:
New, as yet unknown Government intervention that will reduce the CAP (unlikely as they've used other methods up to now)
A sudden regime change in Russia and end to the war in Ukraine resulting in a massive wholesale cost, I'd find it hard to see that as anything but the best news, even if I have to pay EDF a bit more than I could.
The main one though is, this could be a trend, at the moment they’re mostly only offering deals to existing customers, if real competition returns to the market, I might have jumped too early.
We are about to fix at the shop. As we've drastically cut down on our usage our bills will be less than what we used to pay.
If it goes down we will just have to lump it but at the end of the day it's an amount we can afford to pay.
efd going from 26ppkwh to 40ppkwh to fix. ouch
Constant battle with Scottish Power not to put my DD up each month - I want it based on energy I’m currently using, they want it allegedly based on previous 12 months averaged out, despite me taking weekly readings to illustrate we have cut our usage significantly this year. Apparently this is to stop me going into debt, yet the debt is then owing me money.
Anyone else had the new rates sent through from their supplier?
Shell have just sent for the SW
Elec S/C - 58.28p
Elec Unit - 32.788p
Gas S/C - 29.11p
Gas Unit - 10.517p
Anyone on a better deal?
Anyone else had the new rates sent through from their supplier?
Yes, but for some reason only Gas pricing from Octopus - maybe as I'm on their dynamic variable leccy tariff...
Gas numbers:
27.468p per day
10.204p per unit
Currently averaging about 20p/kWh for electric on their dynamic tariff - but that's partially charging a battery at night and then using solar / stored leccy during the day.
I've had mine through from Octopus in the SE
Because of the changes to both standing and unit charges it's tough to do a comparison that makes sense but helpfully on my forecasted usage they say the Electricity will work out £2 a month cheaper (actually £22/yr) and the gas will be £0.60 / mo more expensive (£7.50/yr)
So overall about £15/yr cheaper overall - and if I'm right that's without a forecasted reduction to come in summer as prices ease further and the market becomes competitive again.
I know that for my estimate of £2550 per year that's still substantially more than the £1150 per year I was paying on a fixed rate deal in 2019 but those prices were artificially low and caused a number of suppliers to go bust when wholesale prices went to 'normal' levels let alone the inflated ones due to the last year or so. And if market pricing does take over again in the summer, on the basis of reasonable wholesale prices - I'm tempted to think I've got through it, And I have new fleece and bodywarmer.
We're Shell as well. Our new rates:
Elec S/C – 51.41
Elec Unit – 32.718
Gas S/C – 29.11
Gas Unit – 10.316
Energy price guarantee v3
I'm still smugly locked into Octopus, but the two year deal runs out in September. Fingers crossed for that drop in rates this summer...
Shell for me too - just received an email…
Elec S/C – 50.31p
Elec Unit – 32.40p
Gas S/C – 29.11p
Gas Unit – 10.183
Those are price guarantee rates.
Shell as below:
Puts went down from 31.48 /unit to 31.20 /unit same 48pence standing though.
Averaged a quid a day of usage so far this year - which has been eliminated by the powermove credits.
Heating on the other hand.....don't talk to me about that.
Currently on the Octopus wholesale tracker rates, todays rate
E : 19.28 kwh
G : 4,78 kwh
We're on prepayment with EON, standing charge for electric up to 64p 😢
Our house is with OVO and still waiting for the email to drop. Joy.
However we have a holiday cottage we run in the garden and that is on a business tariff for leccy. By sheer chance we signed a fixed rate 3 year deal in April 21 so have been protected so far. Business rates for small businesses that don't use enough to negotiate a bulk rate and are not in an industry that can apply for help are eyeball melting. However we got this email yesterday....
Changes to our Tariff
We promise always to be transparent about our pricing and so we’re letting you know that our electricity tariff is increasing, in line with our terms and conditions.
From 1 April 2023, there will be increases in the cost of renewable energy schemes and network charges across the industry that could not have been anticipated at the time we started supplying your service.
The increase in costs is beyond our control, and increasing prices for customers in a contract is a decision that we have not taken lightly.
Electricity Rates will increase from 1 April 2023 for the duration of your fixed term by 1.9p/kWh.
I'm going to have to contact them and see what the score is.....but how the **** can you increase the cost you charge within the period of a fixed term? It'll still be a very good rate but I just don't see how they can do it. Something in tiny point 2 in the Ts and Cs maybe.....
Shell, se London, energy price guarantee V3 too but slightly different figures to all those above.
Electricity s/c 47.21 p/day
Electricity 34.174 p/kWh
Gas s/c 29.11p/day
Gas 10.343 pkwh
They reckon I'll be £32/ year better off, hmmm.
The increase in costs is beyond our control, and increasing prices for customers in a contract is a decision that we have not taken lightly.
”The increase in costs is beyond my control, and while decreasing prices while in a contract is not a decision that I take lightly, I regret to inform you that your new unit rate is 15p/kWh. I do hope you understand and I apologise for the inconvenience.”
Ovo emailed
Leccy S/C 51.41p
Unit 32.72p
Gas S/C 29.11p
Unit 10.31p
(Same as Shell figures above)
+£22 per year leccy
+£1.37 per year gas
Had this from SSE for gas. I don't know what my PAYG leccy prices are.
Had my leccy price through now. Another leap in standing charge 🙁
Ovo finally sent me my new rates
I'm now an octopus custoemr
Around £60 extra per month between electric and gas here. Bizarre seeing as though I’m in credit and the heating has been off C m now for a couple of weeks. Might cancel the DD and just pay for what we use. Robbing bastards
Robbing bastards, why? How do you mean, your DD is up by £60? Are you sure that's not just because the £67/mo that the Gov has been crediting is now not there. So really your overall DD is down by £7 maybe?
Of course if in credit already at the end of the higher usage period you may need to recalculate yourself but within reason I've always been able to set my DD rather than just accept the suggestion.
^^Octopus did that to me despite being £350 in credit. No issues logging in and resetting it to the usual £10/month, and they did have the courtesy to email first.
same with eon. we have a small amount of credit left, apparently bills will be a small.amount cheaper (like £30pa) and they hiked DD by £60. think ill be adjusting it back down again. I'd rather have the credit in my account plus I'm planning on switching hopefully before next winter
Octopus did that with me. I think, due to workload they look at your last 3 mth and go average. So they asked for £68. Ok so i have been paying £1, plus gov top up. Still got £160 in credit. Dropping my DD straight back to £40.
What annoying is the standing charge. As a low user its probably going to be more than the usage.
Stealth tax to cover rising costs incurred somewhere
Like, the rising cost of engineers that maintain the wiring and pipework that we all have to supply our houses I guess?
https://www.comparethemarket.com/energy/content/what-is-energy-standing-charge/
I don't understand the hate that the energy SC seems to get. It's a normal part of any utility supply, it'll be on your water bill no matter what you use because you're still connected to the supply and sewerage. You pay line rental for your phone/internet line and then a fee based on usage. Even on roads - a proportion of your VED goes to roads but you pay the same (OK, not great analogy because it varies based on your car/emissions, but if we both have the same car then we pay the same even though I only use it 3x a week and do 6000 miles a year and my neighbour uses his every day and does 15,000)
I don't 'like' the energy companies particularly but you can't criticise them over everything they do, dilutes holding them to account for the actually bad stuff.
It's not the standing charge that's the problem, it's the speed it's gone up, this time last year I was paying 23.22p per day standing charge for electricity, its now 39.63p, a 71% increase, that's not down to increased engineer and maintenance costs, that's getting around the government price cap.
The price cap is set for units and standing charge, the suppliers can vary within these and then they have to meet the overall cap for this fictitious average house. I see what you say about the increase but it's not an unlimited number.
In fact your SC is not at the capped level - it could be 50.4p + VAT but if the supplier charged that, then in order to balance the overall cap for the standard house then the unit charge would have to be lower.
So as a low user your SC is to some extent still being subsidised by the high users.
This will be less important in the coming months I suspect because overall pricing will move below the cap and then you can pick and choose based on SC and unit again.
Predictions seem to be that autumn should see some cheaper deals and available and e should fix then.
It’s not the standing charge that’s the problem, it’s the speed it’s gone up, this time last year I was paying 23.22p per day standing charge for electricity, its now 39.63p, a 71% increase, that’s not down to increased engineer and maintenance costs, that’s getting around the government price cap.
Ours has gone up from 22.6p to 43.7p that’s 89% rise that’s not related to the price of fuel. Multiply this by the many thousands of people on the same contract as me & it’s not difficult to see how the energy companies are reporting record profit.
Robbing bastards, why? How do you mean, your DD is up by £60? Are you sure that’s not just because the £67/mo that the Gov has been crediting is now not there. So really your overall DD is down by £7 maybe?
Seriously? Wholesale prices have come down a fair bit over the last few months yet bills are still rising. I get daily updates of what the energy market is doing as part of my job. I know I can alter the DD and likely will. This isn’t mentioned in the email I received from my supplier. This will lead to a lot of people just accepting price rises. If you’re not happy with robbing bastards then seriously unethical, money grabbing bastards suit you any better?
Wholesale prices have come down a fair bit over the last few months yet bills are still rising.
Most suppliers will buy energy on long term contracts, so the wholesale price might rise or fall independent of their contract price.
The reason all the smaller players went bust was they didn't have the wherewithal or possibly capital to arrange long term supply contracts and so were completely caught out when prices rose suddenly, they found themselves buying energy far above the price they'd agreed to sell it to users.
Prices didn’t rise suddenly. You could see it coming a mile off! That is why I purchased a three year deal for work. I have zero sympathy for energy companies but a lot for consumers, both business and domestic. The companies behind this are still making huge profits and it’s pretty indefensible when you get right down to it.
Wind it in a bit - I'm trying to offer a potential explanation for why your DD is going up by £60, which it could do (indeed, mine did) as a result of the removal of the Gov top up, that's all.
It wasn't clear that your price was rising, my interpretation was that your DD was going up, aligned with the point that actually my price has gone down a bit. Not as much as the wholesale, for sure, but as has been said the summer is when the market is predicted to start setting prices competitively again.
