Gas and Electricity Prices

[Mark Grant]

Big bills next year:

From 1 January the equivalent per unit level of the price cap to the nearest pence for a typical customer paying by direct debit will be 67p per kWh for electricity customers and a standing charge of 46p per day.
The equivalent per unit level for a typical gas customer is 17p per kWh with a standing charge of 28p per day.

That is about double the current electricity price cap I think.

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/latest-energy-price-cap-announced-ofgem

 

[Bob McC]

But no one will pay it.
The cap is set below that Until April 1st.
On April 1st it changes again from those rates.

 

[Sonority]

Looks like UK industry needs to be working from home then, all of it.

 

[simon g]

But no one will pay it.
The cap is set below that Until April 1st.
On April 1st it changes again from those rates.

Maybe not directly, but all taxpayers will be paying it collectively. The government pays the energy suppliers the difference between the EPG unit rate and the Ofgem price cap rate. If the cap rate goes up then the government has to pay an even bigger subsidy.

 

[Richard Lines]

Good Evening All,

This gives an indication of rate increases:-

Regards

Richard

 

[coupe-sport]

I still don’t get why when a large company like this is making a profit the owners get rich but when it goes belly up we, the tax payer, pays the bill. The owners should be penny less and in prison.

Yep. Par for the course these days. Same thing with these chancers…

https://www.theguardian.com/busines...gamble-ended-up-costing-bill-payers-700m-avro

 

[Fatmarley]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...iG90-j_mJxeHfqsCGlAzgeeBaCbh5nbg39jlnlbJPJqwE

 

[mikeyb]

Today on my tracker scheme it is:

Elec
15.79p/kWh
49.02p SC

Gas
3.59p/kWh
26.84p SC

Last month it averaged out to:

Elec
17.86p/kWh
46.69p SC

Gas
4.18p/kWh
25.56p SC

 

[Sue Pertwee-Tyr]

What isn't clear to me is why, as the fuel price drops, the standing charge also drops. I thought the standing charge was to cover fixed costs like admin, billing, meters, etc, not variable ones.

 

[Mike Reed]

What isn't clear to me is why, as the fuel price drops, the standing charge also drops.

I didn't think there was any correlation between energy unit prices and standing charges

 

[Sue Pertwee-Tyr]

Well, there was in the preceding post.

 

[Seeker_UK]

What isn't clear to me is why, as the fuel price drops, the standing charge also drops. I thought the standing charge was to cover fixed costs like admin, billing, meters, etc, not variable ones.

It's a daily charge, and July has more days in it than June.

 

[MikeMA]

Today on my tracker scheme it is:

Elec
15.79p/kWh
49.02p SC

Gas
3.59p/kWh
26.84p SC

Last month it averaged out to:

Elec
17.86p/kWh
46.69p SC

Gas
4.18p/kWh
25.56p SC

That's interesting. Who is your supplier?

 

[mikeyb]

That's interesting. Who is your supplier?

Octopus. It's their wholesale tracker scheme, I think there's a 6 month waiting list now.

Need to monitor daily in case the wholesale prices sky rocket

 

[MikeMA]

Octopus. It's their wholesale tracker scheme, I think there's a 6 month waiting list now.

Need to monitor daily in case the wholesale prices sky rocket

Thanks. The rates you quoted earlier today are about half my latest fix with Shell Energy, though I guess they are pretty volatile. I just opted for the certainty of a fix.

 

[mikeyb]

So far they’ve been pretty steady, but I check daily just in case

 

[Funk]

@Mike Reed - I owe you a virtual pint Mike; following your comment, I called Octopus and they've appended the new fix to start at the end of my current one so I have the best of both worlds. If prices come down again by Dec I can switch, if they go up I've managed to lock in at the best rate available currently.

Win-f'kin-win! Cheers fella!

Looking back wistfully at 2021....all good things come to an end.

I look back with some amusement at my posts talking about 'saving £25' etc...how things have changed! As of mid-Dec I'll be at the end of that two-year fix I signed up to (that with hindsight was a brilliant, lucky decision) and Octopus have just offered me a new fix for 12 months:

Current:

New tariff:

Looks like the biggest hit is from a near-doubling of the electricity standing charge over the existing tariff. In monetary terms I'll be going from around £1,100/yr to £1,600-ish. There was a flexible plan offered that tracks wholesale prices but reading up on it there's talk of the price cap going up and down a bit over the next year and to be honest who knows what's likely to happen; at least with a fix I know where I'm at as my usage is fairly consistent YoY.

I also feel grateful that I've dodged what was hopefully the worst of the energy chaos thanks to locking in for two years back in 2021.

 

[Bob McC]

Methinks also, but with current interest rates, why bother?


Yes, I believe there's another rise in October, but maybe that's just the cap changing. Read an article in my paper yesterday which quotes wholesale price increases over the last year; frightening! On either elec. or gas it was a near 5 fold rise and 3+ for t'other.

Octopus has no exit fees so I do have flexibility to lock in or transfer out should the energy price situation start reversing (I say with little optimism).

Octopus do have exit fees on their current fix offering to regular customers.

 

[Mike Reed]

I also feel grateful that I've dodged what was hopefully the worst of the energy chaos thanks to locking in for two years back in 2021.

Yes, that 24 month fix was, with hindsight, a no-brainer but I didn't like their new 1 year fix (expensive c/f their variable rate) plus £150 exit fees (not that I'd migrate from Octopus, though). Mine went into SVR on the 2nd of this month; all good things come to an end though your end is not so nigh !!!

My thinking was that it is easier to switch to a fixed rate from a SVR if and when the opportunity arises than paying £150 to switch to the SVR should that become financially feasible. However, with these balmy October temp's, that dreaded c/heating operational first for winter is some way off yet.

Octopus do have exit fees on their current fix offering to regular customers.

Yes, Bob, they do now, but didn't before. I think my quote was from some time ago.

 

[seagull]

We've just come off a two year fixed rate and moved to the SVR as there is no penalty for leaving should a better deal come along. We've also got a decent credit balance so that should help cushion the blow this winter.