pedro111 Posted November 22, 2021 Share Posted November 22, 2021 So Wullie, my contract with Octopus ends next month. They say I can do one of three things. 12m fixed £172 per month. 12m loyal fixed £161. Or do nothing and go onto variable at £125. This looks good but am I right in thinking they could put that up to over £200 in the space of a month? What shall I do? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted November 22, 2021 Share Posted November 22, 2021 1 hour ago, AyeDubbleYoo said: Just nationalise energy FFS, idiotic system. Why spend time and money on that? The government’s price cap is already putting most smaller suppliers out of business automatically. Leave things as they stand and the Special Administrator will be effectively a national supplier before too long. (I’m guessing you don’t mean nationalise every bit of power generation in the country) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wullie Posted November 22, 2021 Share Posted November 22, 2021 1 hour ago, pedro111 said: So Wullie, my contract with Octopus ends next month. They say I can do one of three things. 12m fixed £172 per month. 12m loyal fixed £161. Or do nothing and go onto variable at £125. This looks good but am I right in thinking they could put that up to over £200 in the space of a month? What shall I do? Do nothing, 100%. Anything else will cost you a lot of money. 'Variable' is a bit of a misnomer since the government put the price cap in place. No supplier can increase beyond the price cap on their standard rate, so in doing nothing you're effectively fixing the rate until next April, which is when the price cap will be revised for all suppliers. Be aware though that the price cap is a bit of a misleading name as well. It's more of a RATE cap. So they'll charge you £125 p/m for now but that may increase if you leave the heating on all night and have all your lights on (and it may decrease if you go on holiday for 3 months). It's not going to have a big jump because they just fancy charging you more though, that's not allowed. Think of it like this (numbers are made up). The average household uses 1000 units of energy per year and the government has told suppliers that they can't charge more than £1 per unit on standard rate (what is known as the price cap). What Octopus are offering you is to go onto a fixed rate of £1.50 per unit. If you go onto the standard rate, then use 1500 units of energy, you'll pay £500 more than the average person, but you're still paying £1 per unit. If you go onto the fix and use more, you'll still pay £1.50 per unit (and will end up paying £750 more than the average). Ignore the advertised 'monthly fee', that's ultimately calculated entirely on what you actually use, unlike e.g. your broadband subscription, where the PRICE is the thing that's fixed, and can't fluctuate based on how much you use it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pedro111 Posted November 22, 2021 Share Posted November 22, 2021 3 hours ago, Wullie said: Do nothing, 100%. Anything else will cost you a lot of money. 'Variable' is a bit of a misnomer since the government put the price cap in place. No supplier can increase beyond the price cap on their standard rate, so in doing nothing you're effectively fixing the rate until next April, which is when the price cap will be revised for all suppliers. Be aware though that the price cap is a bit of a misleading name as well. It's more of a RATE cap. So they'll charge you £125 p/m for now but that may increase if you leave the heating on all night and have all your lights on (and it may decrease if you go on holiday for 3 months). It's not going to have a big jump because they just fancy charging you more though, that's not allowed. Think of it like this (numbers are made up). The average household uses 1000 units of energy per year and the government has told suppliers that they can't charge more than £1 per unit on standard rate (what is known as the price cap). What Octopus are offering you is to go onto a fixed rate of £1.50 per unit. If you go onto the standard rate, then use 1500 units of energy, you'll pay £500 more than the average person, but you're still paying £1 per unit. If you go onto the fix and use more, you'll still pay £1.50 per unit (and will end up paying £750 more than the average). Ignore the advertised 'monthly fee', that's ultimately calculated entirely on what you actually use, unlike e.g. your broadband subscription, where the PRICE is the thing that's fixed, and can't fluctuate based on how much you use it. Thanks mate I shall do this. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bossman Posted December 2, 2021 Share Posted December 2, 2021 Like a lot of people our supplier, Peoples Energy went bust and we've been transferred to British Gas. Is there anyone that can even match BG in costs? I've never had any good dealings with the company and I absolutely begrudge paying them any money at all. Also, can they just reactivate your smart meter? We left them years ago and none of the other suppliers used them, but now we've been put back on them they've decided that they can just use again and dont need any kind of permission? Is it possible to get them turned off? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
midds Posted December 2, 2021 Share Posted December 2, 2021 9 minutes ago, Bossman said: Like a lot of people our supplier, Peoples Energy went bust and we've been transferred to British Gas. Is there anyone that can even match BG in costs? I've never had any good dealings with the company and I absolutely begrudge paying them any money at all. Also, can they just reactivate your smart meter? We left them years ago and none of the other suppliers used them, but now we've been put back on them they've decided that they can just use again and dont need any kind of permission? Is it possible to get them turned off? I think you'll probably find it'll be in the T&Cs. I had no choice but to get one installed a couple of months away, it was part of switching to a new tariff iirc. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted December 2, 2021 Share Posted December 2, 2021 If its an early meter installed when you were previously with BG then it may not be interoperable with other suppliers (SMETS 1 spec) so if you move supplier again it will likely default to a dumb meter. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest neesy111 Posted December 2, 2021 Share Posted December 2, 2021 Yeah it depend whether it's v1 or v2. Smart meters in all premises are needed desperately to build a smart grid going forward. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bossman Posted December 2, 2021 Share Posted December 2, 2021 I'll be changing as soon as possible like. Companies like BG prey on the vulnerable and are always there to take advantage when things go to shit. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest neesy111 Posted December 2, 2021 Share Posted December 2, 2021 1 hour ago, Bossman said: I'll be changing as soon as possible like. Companies like BG prey on the vulnerable and are always there to take advantage when things go to shit. That's why the price cap was introduced. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest neesy111 Posted December 17, 2021 Share Posted December 17, 2021 Latest estimate is price cap will be at £1800 next year. Jeez. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happinesstan Posted December 17, 2021 Share Posted December 17, 2021 We need a cap on the cap. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazarus Posted December 17, 2021 Share Posted December 17, 2021 3 hours ago, neesy111 said: Latest estimate is price cap will be at £1800 next year. Jeez. Thats a 50% jump. If the market doesnt change between now and April it still wont be high enough to cover suppliers, Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Duper Branko Strupar Posted December 17, 2021 Share Posted December 17, 2021 Must be time to nationalise now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazarus Posted December 17, 2021 Share Posted December 17, 2021 3 minutes ago, Super Duper Branko Strupar said: Must be time to nationalise now. Wont happen under the tories. But under another gov, it should be possible to set up a 'state' supplier to work alongside existing suppliers. Possibly just for the domestic market but it would be a huge challenge to make it viable as the generation, transmission, distribution, settlement and balancing are all in private hands. Might not cost much more to roll out solar panels to every domestic property. At least then the tories could award the contract to their mates so everyones a winner. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazarus Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 Another big jump in pricing. Scottish Power are now the only business supplier offering unit prices under 30p per unit for electricity for 1 year contracts - but that cos theyve increased the standing charge to almost 65p. The domestic price cap will have to be higher than forecast - I'm guessing around £2400 - absolute madness this Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazarus Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 These high energy prices are gonna kill off more small businesses than covid has. All but 4 have withdrawn pricing for me and at least one has said they are not gonna issue price books until after new year. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
relámpago blanco Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 284 quid a month now for gas and electric, getting fucking ridiculous. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
relámpago blanco Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 37 minutes ago, POOT 2.0 said: The majority of the country can't cover that shit. It's going to be a poverty situation, without a doubt. Aye, costs more to heat the house than I spend in beer a month. It's literally sheer madness. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 On 17/12/2021 at 20:11, Super Duper Branko Strupar said: Must be time to nationalise now. Might be a vote winner Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazarus Posted December 23, 2021 Share Posted December 23, 2021 As per my post earlier in the week.... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59760331 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
leffe186 Posted December 23, 2021 Share Posted December 23, 2021 Someone remind me of the benefits to the taxpayer of privatizing this stuff? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
r0cafella Posted December 23, 2021 Share Posted December 23, 2021 15 minutes ago, leffe186 said: Someone remind me of the benefits to the taxpayer of privatizing this stuff? Investors get paid, consumers hold the bag. Tory economics. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
madras Posted December 23, 2021 Share Posted December 23, 2021 16 minutes ago, r0cafella said: Investors get paid, consumers hold the bag. Tory economics. Same with the railways, investors take any profits, taxpayer takes any losses. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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