Utility Bills

[mg4lotus]

4 hours ago, DDubya said:

GSHP, Solar, HRAC in a highly efficient barn conversion. £62 per month with BULB

Saving the planet and lower bills!

Unfortunately, I bet it cost a few bob to set up.

[Bibs]

I'm just about to switch from BG to Octopus as the new EV is arriving this week and I'll use their cheap overnight prices to top it up. I believe that if you're an existing customer and refer me, we both get £50 off our bills so is anyone with them and want £50?

[march]

1 hour ago, Bibs said:

so is anyone with them and want £50?

Yes Please 😀

I think you need this link - Link is in Carina's name.

share.octopus.energy/cute-mink-541

Any in one else wanting to switch - I think anyone can use this - enough people switch and I can buy an Evora 🤪

[mg4lotus]

cute mink... nice😀

[jep]

Elec: I switched to Green at 11.3p KWH and 15p standing charge:

Green | Tech-Focused Sustainable Energy Supplier

Zog Energy for Gas at 2.6p KWH and 18p standing charge.

Justin

[Bibs]

Was just about to click and this popped up!! 

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/jan/26/ovo-to-launch-half-price-electric-vehicle-charging-tariff

[march]

Can you use your car to power your house?

[Bibs]

I think that's one of the things they are looking at, or feeding spare/unused car charge back into the grid when it's high demand using them as energy stores when not needed. Makes good sense really.

[jep]

Quite a bit of Vulture Capitalist money going to firms working on EV reverse powering homes. I suspect there are more progressive national Governments around the world also looking at this - though perhaps not in the Middle East.

Justin

[PhilW]

Slightly off recent topic/comments but with a title Utility Bills I thought i would share.

Over recent years I always monitor and change suppliers to try ensure the best deal whenever possible.  Late 2019 I discovered that my MPAN number, which I understand is relevant to a property and never changes had somehow been mixed up with a house of the same name a quarter of a mile away but in the same village.  Despite what felt like hundreds of phone calls to my electricity supplier and promises of getting it resolved I failed miserably.  I gave up in the end.  Then one day I got a letter from my current supplier that said, we are not you supplier so please accept a refund of all monies paid over the last 18months.  This is despite the fact I have got all the mails welcoming me and telling me that I’ll be set up in a few days and what are you meter readings etc.  They told me who is my supplier, who incidentally deny it.  Therefore, I currently get no electricity bill, effectively haven’t had one since about June '18 I think and the law states no utility company can back charge more than 12 months. The 18 months’ worth of refund was used to buy premium Bonds and I but more monthly to cover an estimated electricity bill..........just in case.  What else can I do?

[philcool]

Had exactly the same switched from British gas to eon had meeter readings all good for 2.5 years.

Then started getting great big gas bills £2k plus finally they said oh we've got your house mixed up with another we will sort it out 3 months later oh well we don't have the right code for your house so we can't charge you for gas and backdated me £2k and said you better contact British gas and pay them.

Got on to British gas who had supplied the house since we moved in they said oh we shouldn't have charged you either and refunded us another £4k and did you need to pay southern gas.

Contacted them they said never heard of you and your house code on your statements from eon and British gas doesn't exist.

So back to eon they took 6 months to creat a new code and just started a fresh.

Contacted the gas ombudsman they said as long as it's agreed that you willfully haven't tried to dodge payments which we haven't then don't worry about it so basically had free gas for about 6years 

Wish I'd swapped the electric now 😂

[Techyd]

On 27/01/2021 at 13:30, Bibs said:

Was just about to click and this popped up!! 

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/jan/26/ovo-to-launch-half-price-electric-vehicle-charging-tariff

I'm with OVO and I've been really impressed with them.  This is a smart move because they are very hot on the renewables front and if you think about it, it's during the day when solar arrays are generating their 'free' electricity so no need to wait until night to charge your vehicle from that perspective and if that should make owning an EV easier without needing to worry about only charging it around tariffs.

[Bibs]

@march - Just switched to Octopus, you should see £50 coming your way off your bill and the same off my first one, thank you! 

If anyone else wishes to switch, please feel free to use Marc's code or I now have one too

http://share.octopus.energy/tan-bloom-811

[march]

@Bibs - Thanks a lot

[Kimbers]

My Electric just went up 10%!!! 10 friggin percent! Where the frig does that come from?

[comem47]

Kimbers, at least you're not in Houston Tx.  ($7K bill).. It's like stock options when the botttom falls out.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/01/us/griddy-texas-lawsuit/index.html

 

 

[C8RKH]

52 minutes ago, Kimbers said:

My Electric just went up 10%!!! 10 friggin percent! Where the frig does that come from?

2020 was by and large a "cheap" year for energy as overall energy consumption was down through businesses and industry using a lot less power due to COVID. This was not offset by an increase from working at home (as you would have been using energy at your desk at work etc). Industrial processes and travel were even bigger fallers in use.

As businesses are generally, but slowly, getting back to work energy consumption is rising and so the wholesale price, that energy retailers buy their electricity, is rising too, by at least 8%.

The energy price cap is being raised in anticipation of the higher 2021 wholesale price, and also, to allow energy retailers to provision for the expected surge in bad debt as people who were made redundant, lost incomes etc struggle to keep up (remember, bad debt is ultimately recovered as a levy from ALL those who pay their bills).

Also the cost of "green energy" is increasing.  The latest "auctions" for the right to install offshore wind will net the Government a windfall of some £4bn for the next 10 years. That is just the cost to lease the seabed to host the windfarms and that will be added to bills through the rise in the Wholesale cost.

So there you have it. No racketeering going on. No profiteering going on. Just that finally people are starting to understand that energy costs, in £'s as well as environmental impact and someone needs to pay for the conversion from relatively cheap already installed carbon generation to new assets for green energy.

So, switch off those lights. Turn your central heating down to 16c. And turn off every device you are not actually using.

[PaulCP]

Thread resurrection, I’m about to come out of an 18months fixed deal with EDF and even the cheapest on-line deal through USwich is showing a 40% increase 

The cheapest 3 are Pure Planet, OVO Energy and Octopus, all way below EDF, BG etc for a 2 year fixed 

I’m currently leaning towards Octopus who appear to have a decent rating. OVO also appear to be good but there is little user info on Pure Planet. Difference between the 3 cost wise is negligible.

Anyone got any recent views on either of the 3 shown above?

[Frickin_idiot]

I am currently with Octopus - I haven't had any difficulties with them. That said in over 25 years with other vendors I've not experienced any problems whatsoever.

When I change - I'll be going with the absolute lowest cost operator. I'm not particularly concerned over customer service when it comes to utilities.

 

I have a link that can be used where we both receive £50 credit if you sign up.

share.octopus.energy/jolly-glow-598

[windymiller]

i think which have given octopus a best buy rating but sadly none of them are a best buy as the price increase is inflation busting each time one renews and thats mostly down to these silly bonkers co2 emmission busting grants etc etc which just cause fuel poverty for the most vunerable in our society !!! 😒

[C8RKH]

23 minutes ago, windymiller said:

mostly down to these silly bonkers co2 emmission busting grants etc etc which just cause fuel poverty for the most vunerable in our society !!!

That are demanded by the middle class elites to protect the planet through giving them massively subsidised feed in tariffs for the PV and Heat Pumps at the expense of those less fortunate whom they are happy to see further down trodden to pay for the middle class eco lifestyle that they are entitled to! As ever, the entitled always come out on top in this country.

[windymiller]

couldnt of said it any better maself buh !!

[MPx]

I switched from Ovo to Octopus because I got totally fed up with Ovo's customer service and estimation approach.  Went through formal complaint to the ombudsman and lost (with total incredulity).  I was with Ovo for years.  I am a big user as our heating is electric (GSHP).  So despite having a consistent annual total, I was always way over their "estimate" in winter, and way under in summer.  So I kept getting wild swings in demand for changes in my Direct debit.  The last straw was when I was £500 in credit in May about to hit my low usage summer when I got a demand to increase my monthly DD by £130 - to £380/mth FFS!!  I both phoned and wrote - and pointed out that I could stop paying at all and wouldn't use my credit by October based on all previous years history.  The next month they took the money by DD anyway so I manually reduced my DD myself back to £250 and complained to the Ombudsman.  Sure enough by the Oct I was over a grand in credit, but the ombudsman found for Ovo as they agreed they had made a reasonable estimation of my usage.  I pointed out the errors in their arithmetic on appeal but to no avail so switched.  Madness!  Not been with Octopus a year yet but the one wobble they had with my usage pattern they backed off when I explained and left the DD at the level we first agreed.  Looks like its going to work out about right so will be interesting if they stay calm next year.

[jep]

Direct Debit Guarantee - you should have just asked your bank to refund the money owed. I got £3k back next day from my bank - Robin Hood Energy failed to challenge the DD rebate and they went bust 4 weeks later (Dec 2020). 

I give a meter read every month now. Green at 11.3pKWH, 14p SC. Zog for gas 2.2p. 

Justin 

 

[andydclements]

The DD guarantee only applies if not advised of the debit beforehand, so in @MPx case, he was aware, just he (and logic) would disagree with what payment was needed.  This has prompted me to now go and check my electricity as it's shell who only do online bills. Paying slightly over each month by by small amounts c10% of the bill, so that will be wiped out come winter.