'At Cost Energy - is it any good?' blog discussion

MSE_Martin

Just a quick update

It seems the blog worked and AtCostEnergy have offered us an interview to talk about their plans.

Guy our news editor will be doign it

If you've any questions you want asked - do put them in here.

Plushchris

Good news Martin, can you ask him why he thinks Atcostenergy will be able to avoid being on comparison sites? The other not for profit company (Ebico) is so why wouldnt Atcost be?

They dont HAVE to pay the websites the "substantial commissions" he talks about, Ebico, Utility warehouse and Utilita dont and they still feature on comparison sites (Ebico even come up top of the list in some comparisons for low usage or prepayment but you cant switch to them)

Could he give some information on prices? (not just that they will be "at cost" or "competitive")

What makes him think the company will be any different to Ebico? How will their prices be any lower?

Could he give a good reason why people have had to sign up to register interest when several other companies have started over the past couple of years without harvesting a load of data before launching?

Billing, will that be monthly? Will there be different tariffs? How are they likely to structure their tariff(s?) Standing charge? Nos standing charge? Single flat unit rate like Ebico?

Also on their website it says "Customer service is a very large overhead for a conventional energy company; making bills simple to understand will reduce this cost, as customers will have no reason to query their bill." does this mean they wont have a customer service department? Or just a small one that will likely be understaffed?

They are so full of contradictions, first of all they say "However, At Cost Energy tariffs should always either be the lowest priced option or very highly competitive on an ongoing basis, because there will be no profit element added into our pricing. This will save you having to 'shop around' once you are supplied by us. You can rest assured that you will never be paying too much for your electricity and gas." then they change their tune to say they are launching a quarterly comparison service, which is it??

Where will they be buying their energy from? Will it include any renewable resources?

Also, do they not think putting "founder, millionaire philanthropist and social entrepreneur" before Matt Stockdales name almost everytime its mentioned on their website sounds like he is blowing his own trumpet? Because people certainly dont become millionaires by giving stuff away at cost price and having everyone elses best interest at heart....

bonzer

Questions for Guy.

• Could you not publish example price tiers at this stage based on number of customers? For example, how much energy would cost at today's prices if you got 100,000 customers or a million?
• Would you pass on cost reductions immediately they happen? The other suppliers often don't.
• Would you compete in price wars? It sounds like you intend to be transparent on costs, which is good, but won't your competitors be able to estimate your cash reserves and hold down prices just long enough to wipe you out? How will you hold a cash reserve at all if you are delivering energy at cost?
• At Cost sounds like a philanthropic venture. Would founder Matt Stockdale be drawing an industry competitive salary?
• It's great to hear customer services would be in the UK. What would be the dialling code? Would it be a geographic number or 0870 for example? Would you pull in revenue through any other source than the energy unit prices?

Cardew

* Will customers be tied in with penalty clauses on any of their tariffs.

* will they guarantee not to pass customer details to a third paty if their scheme is stillborn?

* Companies like BG with 18 million accounts and have huge buying power(and a parent company called Centrica!!) publish that they spend 13% on 'operating costs' make a profit of 2% on their turnover. Do 'At Cost' believe they will get their gas and electricity cheaper?(so they can undercut the Big 6) Have lower 'operating costs' than BG?

* It costs considerably more to 'service' and administer pre-pay meters, and in general pre-pay customers are the lower paid in society. Will At cost Energy cater for them 'at cost?

Mobeer

Will they ensure that the full cost of energy is included in their prices, even if this makes them more expensive than other suppliers? For example, electricity from nuclear power has long been sold below the true whole life cost of building, operating and decommissioning the plant.

jamesd

Mobeer, I doubt that any supplier will ensure that the full cost is included in their prices. How do you price in a meter of sea level rise, say, or the extra deaths from the uncontained radioactive emissions and other pollutants emitted by fossil fuel plants?

Ken68

Hi Guy, would you ask Mr Stockdale for confirmation that the billing will be simple so that consumers can actually see what they are paying for without the obscuring rubbish seen today on most of the Big 6 statements.
If the answer is Yes then would you thank him.

Premier_2

I somehow doubt you'll get any straight answers.

Someone registered an account here claiming to be Stockdale, and from the responses before the account was PPR'd, I suspect it was genuine. Never gave us any details.

Anyway, he's had a few more months to develop his buiness plan, so let's try again

1. Do you have a robust business plan?
2. If so, when exactly do you hope to start providing energy (and hence generating income from selling energy) to the general public?
3. How many customers did your market research suggest you would attract at that start up date?
4. Based on those anticipated customer numbers, what will be your tariff at start up. (... and no, I won't give you my personal details in order to obtain this info)

Mobeer

jamesd wrote: »

Mobeer, I doubt that any supplier will ensure that the full cost is included in their prices. How do you price in a meter of sea level rise, say, or the extra deaths from the uncontained radioactive emissions and other pollutants emitted by fossil fuel plants?

I wouldn't really expect a good answer. Trying to put values onto these sort of issues is terribly complex, though some companies I deal with are trying to consider these issues. I just think it would be something good to raise if they insist on their supplying energy "at cost".

MSE_Martin

To all those saying "I doubt you'll get straight answers" - that of course is telling in its own right if it happens!