Martin's on Talkback re Airtricity

Bigcammy

I noticed in the Press today that only 6000 customers a month can be processed from NIE to Airtricity, although this is a 50% increase from the previous figure of 4000 per month previously stated by NIE. Not many, is it?

36square

Magooorobino wrote: »

NIE Energy increased our D/debit from £78-£181.00 in January. I argued that the increase did not reflect the annual ussage and they reduced it reluctantly to £135.00 I have now had it reduced to £100 after much correspondence with NIE, who still do not admit that an increase of £78 to £181.00 D/Debit monthly payment was not justified.

Maybe the size of the increase was partly due to your account being in arrears. They take that into account as well as your usage when calculating the figure. I have found NIE to be quite amenable when it comes to reducing the DD. The 4% discount for DD is now quite valuable since interest rates are so low.

icookalot4u

Has anyone actually switched, all seems very easy and like anything that easy it almost seems too good to be true. If you have any experience why not share it here?

SuperMum2010

Hmm...yes, I was just on airtricitys website - I like the idea of the green energy source, but dont want to jump ship and then find NIE penalise people who return if they decide to wake up and become competitive!

facingthefuture

Not everyone can switch, keycard customers I do not think can!

BLACKPATCH_2

Yes, weve jumped ship to Airtricity. They just ask for 5 things if you want the really cheap tarriff.
1 personal details, name address, dob, owner-occupier/renter.
2 bank details
3 meter reading
4 meter serial number
5 nie customer number

As of 1130 am today they say they have taken a few hundred calls from nie customers, so advise we are well within the 6,000 current monthly limit.

There is a 10 day cooling off period and then they say we will be up and running with them within 5-10 days and have a final bill from NIE.

I dont think NIE would be able to impose less favourable conditions on returning customers. They would be shooting themselves in the foot and possibly acting illegally, in an open market.

Our last 4 bills together were £825.52 and the DD Discount was £ 32.75 or 3.9%, so I would say the Airtricity Discount was closer 10.1%, if you were an existing NIE DD customer.

Also last year NIE (according to them) reduced their prices by 5% and they expect to reduce their prices within the next couple of months. No details known about the specifics at present by NIE agent I spoke to.

So even if NIE do reduce their tarriff by 5% then Airtricity should still be 5.1% cheaper and until then it should be 10.1% cheaper.

NIE say they are still regulated at present, and will be until they lose a certain amount of customers. The agent said they dont know how many customers they will have to lose in order to be deregulated. So I expect NIE will reduce their prices by about 5% (what do I know) sometime in the Autumn but will they put off pricematching until they become deregulated, whenever/if ever that happens, bearing in mind only 6,000 credit meter customers per month can make the switch.? No keypad customers at present.

Also if you dont pay Airtricity by DD you may be asked for a security deposit of up to £300 quid. Hope this helps. I dont claim to be an expert at all, just a normal Joe Public new Airtricity Customer.

Heres hoping it all goes smoothly.

seatzie

<So even if NIE do reduce their tarriff by 5% then Airtricity should still be 5.1% cheaper and until then it should be 10.1% cheaper>

the MD of Airtricity on Talkback said last week, if NIE reduce prices by 5% they will still be 14% or whatever lower because every NIE price decrease gets passed on to Airtricity as well.....apparently

caz2703

I was quite surprised to see that NIE could possibly be deregulated but reading on the NIAUR website I found the following which may make that statement true:

All active suppliers are licensed by the Utility Regulator to supply electricity in Northern Ireland.
Most suppliers, with the exception of NIE Energy Supply, whose prices are still regulated by the Utility Regulator, do not sell to each customer on a standard tariff but on negotiated contractual terms. The supplier will provide you with your electricity needs and bill you accordingly. This bill will also include any charges in relation, to use of the transmission and distribution system. These charges are distributed evenly on all suppliers on a per unit basis.

maveli

How much do they charge per unit. there is no mention of tariff anywhere. How can we assure we will get 14% discount

seatzie

I get the impression their rate will be NIE less a %ge depending if you get ebill, postal bill, pay by direct debit etc
try this link http://www.airtricity.com/ni-domestic-savings-calculator/