Smart meter ?

[flameport]

I had at last smart meter fitted yesterday

You will need to wait until it's properly set up with the supplier, which can take up to 2 weeks.
Rushing in before that will cause problems.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

You don't have to have a smart meter to get lower prices, we are on 33% discount of SVT, I think until march 2025 as some sort of loyalty deal after shifting elec to BG during phone negotiation.

I've never come across such a deal, does it include both utilities, all day long, and not special needs for EV, batteries, or solar?

My costs at the moment, are below 50% of SVT on both.

 

[SUNRAY]

I've never come across such a deal, does it include both utilities, all day long, and not special needs for EV, batteries, or solar?

We have nothing different to 10 years ago, no EV, SN or PV. we were on fixed price until march 23 and there was some sort of extension clause which they were trying hard to hide. We'd already found alternative deals (very poor - not much on offer) and that was what they agreed after several phone calls if we transfered elec to BG too

My costs at the moment, are below 50% of SVT on both.

How typical is that? Others I've spoken with on octopussy reckon they're averaging about 19p which is roughly our price. I haven't been keeping up with gas prices but we're on the same deal.

I don't know if it makes a difference but officially we are without phone coverage maps.

 

[ericmark]

Since until yesterday had to be same rate 24/7 as no smart meter, surprised to see the rate drop tonight without us setting up anything.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

We have nothing different to 10 years ago, no EV, SN or PV. we were on fixed price until march 23 and there was some sort of extension clause which they were trying hard to hide. We'd already found alternative deals (very poor - not much on offer) and that was what they agreed after several phone calls if we transfered elec to BG too, we

You then, were one of the very lucky ones, to even have a reasonable fixed price, during a time when energy was very expensive. Only during recent weeks, have fixed price contracts become available again, though expensive, only now beginning to drop.

How typical is that? Others I've spoken with on octopussy reckon they're averaging about 19p which is roughly our price. I haven't been keeping up with gas prices but we're on the same deal.

Obviously, without doing a survey, I'm not sure how typical my costs are. I was one of the lucky ones, who was put on an especially cheap tariff, which should no longer have been available when I moved onto Tracker. I'm aware some others were also put on it, and some remained on it after it was suppose to have ended, and been replaced. I'm certainly not about to ask OE why

I suppose the difference is, what I have is generally available to everyone, or something close to it, whereas you were just lucky to have got yourself a sensible fix, at a good time.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

Octopus made an admin error and put Harry on an old tariff that shouldn't be available to new customers. This isn't available to anyone else, and they may correct Harry's account at some future point, so it's irrelevant. But... what's officially available is still staggeringly good.

On the official (non-Harry) tariff that's actually available without them making a freak mistake, today's prices here are...

17.63 Electricity vs standard 28.02p, a saving of 37%
4.15p Gas vs standard 7.29p, a saving of 43%

These rates vary by location, but aren't wildly different and the savings are pretty typical.

The standing charge is identical for both tariffs so can be ignored for comparison purposes. The saving has been around a third over the last year, which will be many £100s for most households.

This is an amazing deal, it does sound too good to be true so people are rightly suspicious. There's no exit penalty, the only caveats are...

It may reach a theoretical maximum of £1/unit, if the world goes mad and the sky falls down, but this has never happened
You can leave without paying a penalty but have to give 2 weeks' notice
After you leave you can't return for 9 months (to prevent people dipping in and out)

As Harry keeps pimping his signup link (after I recommended this to him!), here's mine which will get you a £50 bill credit...

Octopus Energy

Octopus customers pay less: Cheaper than price-cap prices, rewards for using less when the grid is stressed, and smart tariff savings for your home, car or battery

share.octopus.energy

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Octopus made an admin error and put Harry on an old tariff that shouldn't be available to new customers. This isn't available to anyone else, and they may correct Harry's account at some future point, so it's irrelevant. But... what's officially available is still staggeringly good.

On the official (non-Harry) tariff that's actually available without them making a freak mistake, today's prices here are...

Several more recently, seem to have been put on that early/cheaper tariff, and some have been transferred to it, simply by asking to be put onto it, after being put on the more expensive later one.

This is an amazing deal, it does sound too good to be true so people are rightly suspicious. There's no exit penalty, the only caveats are...

Yep, it makes zero sense to not be on it, there is no good reason not to be.

As Harry keeps pimping his signup link (after I recommended this to him!), here's mine which will get you a £50 bill credit...

..and thanks for convincing me to take it up. When something sounds too good, this did sound far too good, it makes me doubly suspicious. There really was nothing to be suspicious of.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

Yep, currently attempting to persuade my mum to make the obvious choice. Coming up against that standard British attitude of "There must be a catch", "If it's too good to be true then it must be" and "How can it be so much less when everyone else charges more?"

The actual answer is that the price cap is way too high, there's no competition between suppliers, the supposed "market" has failed, everyone is being fleeced and this is the only tariff that reflects the actual cost. All suppliers are currently making many hundreds of excessive profit from everyone in the country.

Octopus makes a small percentage of profit on each unit on the Tracker tariff, they can never lose. They and all other suppliers are therefore currently making a vast profit on the standard tariff.

 

[ebee]

Coming up against that standard British attitude of "There must be a catch", "If it's too good to be true then it must be" and "How can it be so much less when everyone else charges more?"

Do not berate your Mum for having this attitude. It comes as a sensible part (sometimes a vital part) of anyone`s armoury. It makes sense to have that as a consideration.
History has taught us all that this attitude is always valid because sometimes it saves us from possible disaster
Note - I said sometimes . Do not auto discard that attitude Ivor`s Mum

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

The actual answer is that the price cap is way too high, there's no competition between suppliers, the supposed "market" has failed, everyone is being fleeced and this is the only tariff that reflects the actual cost. All suppliers are currently making many hundreds of excessive profit from everyone in the country.

That, plus they transfer some of the risk onto customers. The risk being one of the wholesale energy costs suddenly increasing, and the suppliers being limited by the cap, so the supplier ends up making a loss. The Tracker follows the wholesale costs very closely, the Tracker Kwh rate is actually set, towards the end of the day before, so almost no lag, so less need for a large profit margin. In other words, the customer is involved in the gamble, relieving the energy supplier of much of the risk.

The word is, that everyone on the Tracker, will be moved to Tracker calculation, on the 15th February 2024. Emails are going out from Octopus.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

I just phoned them, was told I'm already on the one and only tracker that's currently available and can't switch to any previous one.

So I'm still happy with only saving a huge amount rather than a vast amount!

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

It is a good safeguard to have suspicion. But it's often an obstacle to doing the right thing too, caution can be almost as bad as being carefree.

I run a business where I buy and sell goods. If I was always suspicious of low prices I'd never make any money. Sometimes prices are just low, for no reason.

 

[ebee]

Nope - there is always a reason but it is not always immediately obvious what it is.
"Look before you leap" is one good saying but yet again "he who hesitates is lost" is same again a good saying. Each is contradictory to the other though. Whichever one you use in a situation could be right or wrong. You just strive to get more rights than wrongs and fingers crossed.
Nobody gets everything right, that is impossible, I think it is probably impossible to get everything wrong.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

That, plus they transfer some of the risk onto customers. The risk being one of the wholesale energy costs suddenly increasing, and the suppliers being limited by the cap, so the supplier ends up making a loss. The Tracker follows the wholesale costs very closely, the Tracker Kwh rate is actually set, towards the end of the day before, so almost no lag, so less need for a large profit margin. In other words, the customer is involved in the gamble, relieving the energy supplier of much of the risk.

Only some of the risk. If the world exploded and it got really high with no reason to think it would reduce then I'd switch to the standard capped tariff and transfer the risk back to them or another supplier.

It's pretty much "Heads I win and tails they lose", with only a minor potential loss during the switch away from it.