Energy costs

[medsec222]

Our energy costs went up a fair bit last month from our previous months, although it was cold and we had the heating up more than usual.

Me and my OH are really baffled now about what to do. We are with EDF and have had quotes from Octopus and Eon which are both lower. Eon quoted a fixed rate and a variable rate. Is everyone else as baffled \as me as to the best way to go or are most of you staying put for the moment. We now don't know whether to stay where we are or move to someone else, or to take a fixed deal or a variable deal.

[Workingman]

Hmm, I have had this out with my MP.

As a tenant I am on a pre-pay meter for electricity and as my property is not suitable for a smart meter (thank goodness) I am on the standard tariff for gas. Both are with Scottish Power. I use spreadsheets so I know exactly what I am using day by day and pay my gas monthly by debit card. I absolutely refuse DD "offers".

When the new price cap came in I wanted to do some comparisons.... and hit a brick wall. What I wanted was a UNIT price for gas and one for electricity from a selection of suppliers - EOn, EDF, Octopus, BG and SP but they are not there unless you are an account owner and can see a bill. Then all you get from Go Compare, Money Supermarket, Money Saving Expert, USwitch and the likes are annual estimates based on similar users in similar properties and they tend to be based on some mythical "average" from Ofgem.

So, I stayed with SP.

What really does bug me about all this is that if I want a UNIT price of, say, a tin of Heinz beans I can go to all the supermarket websites and find out how much each is charging for a UNIT, a tin. I can't do that with energy.

[TheOstrich]

You make an interesting point about the energy companies' reluctance to publicise their basic tariff prices, WM.
I think it may be because the figures vary slightly area by area across England, so that's why (certainly in Eon Next's case) they push you for your postcode before giving you an actual quote.

Just for the record, Eon Next's standard vaible prices are rising in January by:
Gas - both unit charge and daily charge - 7.5%
Electric - daily charge - 0.7%, unit charge - 4.6%

I've stuck with standard variable as I get a 5% discount for paying monthly DD, and freedom to amend that DD up or down on-line as circiumstances dictate.
Just put the gas DD up from £55 to £60, because, like you medsec, the November bill has been quite high.
It's been so dull and miserable this autumn that our solar panels have contributed very little to the war effort, and we've had to use gas to heat the water on more than one occassion.

[Workingman]

More... There is a formula all suppliers use:

Units x Calorific Value x Volume correction ÷ CM³ x Unit Rate in pence/kWh.

Volume correction and CM³ are always the same. Calorific Value can be between 38 and 41, but it is the same for them all as they all use the same gas. Units are what you use as per the reading on your meter so it's a big variable, but that's up to you. What is not up to you is the Unit Rate in pence/kWh, and they all charge a different rate - the one they will not tell you.

If you are using an average of 5 units a day, not outrageous, then a change from 7p per kWh to 7.5p will cost you £5.18 per month more. Then there's the standing charge...

Ossie I am giving them all my same postcode so there is no variety. It is not as though the gas is coming down different pipes from each supplier. And I do NOT want a QUOTE - I want the UNIT price they are charging so I can work things out. I pay in full for what I use each month so I am not interested in DD.

[jenniren]

Martin Lewis says Eon Pledge is a good bet, but you have to agree to a smart meter. We're already with them, but we don't want a SM so will leave things as they are for the time being.

[cruiser2]

I am with Octopus.

Theywante to increase my DD. Nearly double what I was paying. I am only paying £!00.00 permonth for both gas and electricity.

Have told them if my account is in debit by a large amount--over £100.00, I will "consider" making a payment toreduce this figure.

Why should they have my money when I can get interest on it.

[Workingman]

I am with Octopus.

Theywante to increase my DD. Nearly double what

And that is why is why I wil not use any of those annualised DD offers. They simply do not reflect my actual usage. A typical offer from April 2021, when I had the old gas meter replaced, would have seen me £488 in credit from May/June to Aug/Sept and £729 after twelve months. At that point I would have had to claim MY money back. Not much has changed since then.

A company with one million customers would be sitting on a £720m pile of free money.

At the start of 2023 the big six were sitting on £8.1bn of customers' overpayments. Not one single penny of it was mine.

[medsec222]

We are nearly £700 in credit with EDF. It came down a bit this month because we had used more gas and electricity. I think the energy suppliers are taking the proverbial now.

[cromwell]

It is not only the cost of the gas that you have to consider, it is the standing charge. Because this is being sneakily nudged up little by little until it has reached £50 a quarter.

It was much simpler when the state supplied energy. Nowadays I get the impression that "choice" is becoming more like "Which shell is the pea under?", a deliberate bafflement of the customer.

[Workingman]

Cromwell, if you consider the combined daily gas and electric standing charges you are looking at £26+ per month or £332 per year - £80+ per quarter!

In the month to the end of December they will be 20% of my bill, but in summer they can be three times my energy usage.