Ecotricity

ahai1

Can anyone tell me much about them? Here is the url http://www.ecotricity.co.uk/

A_fiend_for_life

I've been checking these out - you can find their unit price in the footer under tariffs.

They have standing charge of around £60 per year I'm not sure if this is the same for all areas. Prices include VAT.

They have two tariffs 'new energy', over 30% green, and 'new energy plus' 100% green energy.

Difference between the two tariffs is very low at least for my area and consumption.

They also price match to the big six but not on deals such as early payment etc.

See this section:

http://www.ecotricity.co.uk/find-out-more/
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greenbee

ahai1 wrote: »

Can anyone tell me much about them? Here is the url http://www.ecotricity.co.uk/

What do you want to know about them?! It's a bit of a vague question?

Do you want to know about pricing, service or where their electricity comes from?

ahai1

Sorry I want to know about pricing and service.

A_fiend_for_life

No idea about service other than what they say on their site: they apparently have an independent consumer champion and urge you to provide your meter reading prior to billing.

penrhyn

Just did a comparison on Energy helpline, I use around 2000 Kwh per year (frugal me!).
My British Gas Click 6 will be costing me around £215 assuming no more price rises.

Ecotricity would cost £ 345, so about 60% more.

It ain't easy being green.

A_fiend_for_life

@ penrhyn

Comparing notes based on 29 weeks from spreadsheet:

Gas 2395 kWh @ £88.60

Elec 815 kWh @ £135.05

Plus VAT.

What are the unit prices for click energy 6 had a look but doesn't seem to be available.

penrhyn

BG have superceded it with websaver 1, it just happens to be the one I'm currently on.
I'll see if I can find the unit costs, right:-

19.723p for the first 125 kWh per quarter, and 9.098p thereafter

Then
Electricity customers paying by Monthly Direct Debit will receive a discount off their quarterly Tier 2 consumption charges (and night rates where applicable) of 1.429 p/kWh up to a maximum of £10 per quarter.

greenbee

If you are looking at this because you want green electricity, then you should compare it against green tariffs from other suppliers. But you'll need to look at the details of their green offerings as they're all different.

For example,

• what percentage of their energy comes from renewables (remember that there is a legal obligation for them to provide a certain level already, so it's only worth paying extra if it is over and above their legal minimum, otherwise you're subsidising everyone else)
• do they offset carbon emissions, and if so what rating does their offset scheme get (tree planting is at the bottom end, retiring ROCs, ring-fencing income to spend on more renewables, and UN-certified projects in developing countries is at the top end)
• does their 'renewables' mix include nuclear? And does this impact your decision

It's worth asking on the gas & electricity board as well, although you'll probably get some fairly robust discussion!

Price-wise, matching the standard tariff for the big six isn't going to be a good deal, as those will be the most expensive deals, so think about what you're getting extra for that money. It's a question of what your priorities are.

From memory ecotricity source about 40% of their energy from renewables and 18% from nuclear, so low carbon intensity, but not necessarily the impression you get initially. They do have 100% renewables tariff as well.

Good Energy source from 100% renewables, but don't build turbines themselves in the same way, they encourage others to invest in the infrastructure and have a model whereby they pay premiums (like the proposed feeder tariffs) to a large number of micro-generators and sell excess to non-producing customers (I think... its a while since I did the research on this).

It's likely that Ethical Consumer and The Ecologist will have quite a lot of data on green energy.

A_fiend_for_life

I had to compare the ecotricity tariffs.

I've put the values for ecotricity's 'new energy' and 'new energy plus' into my spreadsheet.

Based on 203 days (29 weeks) quarterly billing no DD, 212 units / 2395 kWh of gas and 815 kWh Electricity.

Correction found an error on my SP prices gas was at old price for all dates so was less than actual cost:

Scottish Power

G: £112-32 (inc SC)
E: £135-05 (inc SC)

Total inc vat: £259-74


Ecotricity *

New Energy (NE): £142-40 (30% plus renewable)

New Energy Plus (NE+): £146-72 (100% renewable)

Prices include vat.


Ebico Equigas * (Eq):

Gas: £89-48 (inc SC and vat)

Elec: £119-59 (inc SC and vat)

Total £209-07

Out of curiosity

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NE + Eq = £231-88

NE+ + Eq = £236-20

SP - (Dual Fuel + Early payment) = SP - £33-46** = £226-28

So considering SP incentives and a slight overestimate in Ebico and Ecotricity prices there is little difference at least for my consumption.

Not sure about DD discount.


*Based on new prices only so cost is a slight over estimate.

**Based on (£60 / 52) * 29.