Energy costs. Oh dear.......

[richlist]

How do we know which region we are in ?

[pje16]

How do we know which region we are in ?

use the postcode checker on this page
https://www.energybrokers.co.uk/electri ... utor-areas
Oddly I am in NW London with a postcode to prove it, yet I come under Eastern

[staffordian]

How do we know which region we are in ?

Look at the electricity part of your bill.

There should be a box with a letter S to its left, named "Supply number" and seven boxes with numbers in. Bottom left box has a two digit number; this is your area.

Look at this map to see the area.

https://www.google.com/search?q=ofgem+r ... MQLG3Ge-tM

Edit: this map is better...

https://images.app.goo.gl/ett78twHJrPT51p47

[Lanark]

The shocking part of this is how much extra it will now cost to be on a pre-payment meter - it is expensive to be poor.

[servodude]

The shocking part of this is how much extra it will now cost to be on a pre-payment meter - it is expensive to be poor.

~4 million households in the UK on them was a shock to me

That's probably 14% of people?

[UncleEbenezer]

The shocking part of this is how much extra it will now cost to be on a pre-payment meter - it is expensive to be poor.

~4 million households in the UK on them was a shock to me

That's probably 14% of people?

I expect those figures may include the kind of pre-payment meter I had in my digs as a postgrad student.

That is to say, my room rent included lighting, and hot water in the bathroom (at certain times), but I had a coin-in-the-slot meter for electricity in my room. As I recollect it, the most use that had was for boiling the kettle. But it would've protected my landlady and her family from huge bills if I'd run a heater in there - something neither they nor I could ever dream of affording.

[swill453]

The shocking part of this is how much extra it will now cost to be on a pre-payment meter - it is expensive to be poor.

It's not actually as bad as it looks. See the note on that page:

IMPORTANT: We don't yet have the prepayment rates under the new energy price guarantee. The rates in the table are the rates that were due to come in under Ofgem's October price cap. We'll update this table and the regional tables as soon as we get the new rates.

It's usually more than the Direct Debit rates, but only by a tiny amount.

Scott.

[richlist]

As the new prices come into effect in 16 days, the missing prices (e.g. economy 7 users) from the MSE web site should be arriving from our individual energy providers very shortly.

[servodude]

~4 million households in the UK on them was a shock to me

That's probably 14% of people?

I expect those figures may include the kind of pre-payment meter I had in my digs as a postgrad student.

That is to say, my room rent included lighting, and hot water in the bathroom (at certain times), but I had a coin-in-the-slot meter for electricity in my room. As I recollect it, the most use that had was for boiling the kettle. But it would've protected my landlady and her family from huge bills if I'd run a heater in there - something neither they nor I could ever dream of affording.

Possibly, seems tricky to get the data.

I was staying in one place when they switched over from 50ps to cards - which stopped it feeling like a really crap fruit machine but made it a bit less obvious when it was being used (and by whom)

I do like the idea of sticking a box in the wean's room though!

[AF62]

The government has updated its information sheet in respect of those customers on fixed tariffs that extend past 1st October - https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... ember-2022

If you’re on a fixed rate tariff
For those customers on fixed rate tariffs, a ‘floor’ unit price for gas averaging at 10.3p/kWh and for electricity averaging at 34p/kWh for direct debit customers will also come into effect on 1 October 2022. We are introducing a floor because some people will have fixed at much lower prices some time ago, meaning their annual payments will already be below the £2,500 average set by the Energy Price Guarantee.

Unit price reductions of up to 17p/kWh for electricity and 4.2p/kWh for gas will apply to fixed tariff customers to bring their rates down to, but not below, the floor unit price. Customers on fixed rate tariffs that are already below the floor unit prices will continue to enjoy those low rates, but will not receive a further discount for the duration of their fixed term.

For the small number of consumers who fixed at a high rate exceeding the October Ofgem price cap of £3,549, they will receive the full discount of 17p for electricity and 4.2p for gas. However, given the higher starting point, their fixed rate tariff will still have a unit rate that is above the EPG rates. This will ensure that a fair price is paid by everyone.

Energy suppliers will adjust fixed tariffs automatically. Customers on fixed tariffs do not need to take any action to get the benefits of this scheme. Any transfer to a different tariff is a matter for suppliers.

All of which generally seems fair, although those who jumped to a higher price tariff in the last month or two so who have been paying more than the cap will likely disagree.

[pje16]

All of which generally seems fair, although those who jumped to a higher price tariff in the last month or two so who have been paying more than the cap will likely disagree.

If you listened to the widely publicised advice, you should not have signed up to a fixed rate tariff once your existing one ran out
Mine ran out in March, and this is the first time that I can remember I have been on a variable one.

[AF62]

All of which generally seems fair, although those who jumped to a higher price tariff in the last month or two so who have been paying more than the cap will likely disagree.

If you listened to the widely publicised advice, you should not have signed up to a fixed rate tariff once your existing one ran out
Mine ran out in March, and this is the first time that I can remember I have been on a variable one.

The widely publicised information that the energy price cap was increasing to £3,500 in October and then £5k or £6k next year?

Or the widely publicised statements by our new Prime Minister during her hustings that there was going to be no more government support?

Or the widely publicised advice by a certain money savings expert at the end of last year suggesting not to sign up to a fixed tariff as it wasn't worth it given the predicted amount of the January 22 price cap?

[pje16]

Given that we now know (or will imminently) exactly what we'll pay for gas and electricity for the next two years
Scott.

I was hoping to find out from my supplier Shell, just had a look on their site, and there is no clue as to what the rates will be
I would have thought they would have had rates sorted out by now

They have just emailed me the new rates
what a nice surprise
The part you can't control, The daily rate increase (for Gas & Electricity) on an annual basis comes to £8.28 (that's right under a tenner)
The not so good
gas unit rate up by 40% and Electricity up by 20%

[swill453]

The not so good
gas unit rate up by 40% and Electricity up by 20%

Would have been up by 100% and 85% without the EPG.

Scott.

[pje16]

Dopey energy supplier
as usual, I submitted my gas and electric readings (please do not bother to tell me to get a smart meter) at the end of September
I got my bill yesterday and for reasons best known to themselves they have used estimated readings which are slightly more than the real ones, so I am a few quid up

[Maroochydore]

Keep saving!

The energy price cap would be scrapped when Liz Truss’s £60bn support package for households comes to an end under plans being considered in Whitehall.

Officials at the industry regulator Ofgem and the Business Department are discussing market reforms that could include scrapping the cap, which is normally changed every three months based on average wholesale power prices and was introduced by then-Prime Minister Theresa May.

The cap – which has been superseded for the next two years by a price guarantee that limits the average household's bill to £2,500 – has been heavily criticised by energy providers, which claim it compels them to swallow losses if prices rise sharply higher.

Civil servants have now hinted that the cap will not come back when emergency help ends in October 2024. Tearing it up could mean a return to rules before Ms May's intervention, when customer prices could be changed daily to reflect increases or decreases in the underlying cost of electricity and gas.

In a response to a report by MPs, the Business Department said it would consider how “price protection needs to evolve” in future.

Asked about whether the cap could be scrapped, Ofgem said on Friday that it would work with the Government “to determine what protections will be required” after the guarantee ends. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/20 ... whitehall/

Begs the question really; who is running the show? Whitehall or Ofgem? Certainly not the Government.

[AF62]

Begs the question really; who is running the show? Whitehall or Ofgem? Certainly not the Government.

Ofgem is just pointing out the issue that a government mandated price cap isn’t a good idea when energy prices experience a sudden rise because of unexpected events.

Most people, and especially The Telegraph, overlook the reason why the price cap was introduced which was the energy companies overcharging those on variable tariffs in order to gain new customers on cheaper fixed price tariffs.

The need for some sort of protection for those on variable tariffs to protect them from being ripped off from the unscrupulous energy companies hasn’t gone away, but the blunt six or three month price cap probably isn’t the best solution - the best solution would be for energy companies to get some morals but that isn’t going to happen any time soon.

And as for the government price cap ending in October 2024 - well good luck to any party that goes into the next General Election that doesn’t commit to extending it.

[1nvest]

Russian Gazprom prices for kWh of gas are around 30 times cheaper than in the UK.

As energy is a fundamental/core factor across the entire economy, then for those that secure such lower prices that's a distinct competitive advantage (for the likes of China/India etc.).

Hunt blaming global energy prices is a misdirection, as the larger proportion of the global population aren't behind/foundations of the US/capitalistic system. China/Asia, India, Russia, S America, Africa, UAE, Iran ...etc.

[monabri]

It also doesn't cover those on economy 7 tariff. I'm currently paying 32p day & 20p night per unit. I expect Octopus will write to me shortly with the details of the increase.

I'm glad you highlighted the fact that Octopus offers a dual rate. I was moved to British Gas from Together Energy and they have been pretty rubbish to the extent that I have just written to them with a formal complaint (after waiting 8 weeks from the initial email complaint with 5 other emails/calls to help line in between). BG have been billing me at a single rate even though they ask me to enter the meter rdg for the day and night meter.

At long last...BG have emailed me (I did have to contact them again ...Indian call centre ..very difficult to understand). They have now put me on Economy 7 backdated to February. I'm now in credit to the tune of £880 and £20 gesture of goodwill.

[AF62]

At long last...BG have emailed me (I did have to contact them again ...Indian call centre ..very difficult to understand).

Given there is virtually no difference in price between the various energy companies at the moment, now seems the ideal time to move to whichever offers the best customer service - and those with overseas call centres are unlikely to be top of the list.