NPower rate hike - How can they justify?

keeley1973

Having switched for the first ever time last November from Eon to NPower, I find that my rates have not gone through the roof since 4th Jan. :mad: I am quite comfortable with an increase and I expected it to happen but as you can see from the figures below, this is scandalous! Anyone else had these probs? I figure I am going to switch to Scottish Power now even despite the £40 penalty I have to pay NPower!

NEW RATES

1st Rate Electric - up 39% from 17.79p to 24.75p
2nd Rate Electric - up 55% from 9.82p to 15.31p
Economy 7 Electric - up 6.5% from 4.1p to 4.37p
1st Rate Gas - up 35% from 4.66p to 6.29p
2nd Rate Gas - up 1.55% from 2.57p to 2.61p

echoecho_2

What is the overall increase? I.e, based on your annual kwh consumption how much has the yearly total increased? This will give you a better idea of the percentage increase for yourself.

That being said, always a good idea to check out price comparison sites anyway to see if you're getting the best deal. Remember to only use your annual kwh consumption though.

keeley1973

echoecho wrote: »

What is the overall increase? I.e, based on your annual kwh consumption how much has the yearly total increased? This will give you a better idea of the percentage increase for yourself.

That being said, always a good idea to check out price comparison sites anyway to see if you're getting the best deal. Remember to only use your annual kwh consumption though.

I am not sure what the overall increase is but it will be high based on the fact that the majority of our gas and electric is on first tier rates. I calculated that my bill for the last 10 weeks will be around £125 higher than it would have been on the old rates so this gives you a fair idea!

Viper_7

They justified it in the letter they sent you informing you of the increase.

meggsy

Viper_7 wrote: »

They justified it in the letter they sent you informing you of the increase.

The point is that npower announced and sent emails to customers that the January increase would be 5% but when we received the actual prices they are nothing like 5%

Ours is an overall 18% !

Premier_2

This is what they actually said

5.1% price increase: Weighted average across the nPower customer base, taking into account payment method, fuel holding and region and using Ofgem's revised medium user consumption figure of 16,500kWh gas (coming into effect on 17 January 2011) and 3,300kWh electricity (unchanged by Ofgem). Ofgem's previous medium user consumption figure for gas was 20,500kWh. Actual price increases will vary according to fuels taken, applicability of discounts, and by region and consumption.

meggsy

They also said this

http://thebrighterenergydebate.npower.com/energyprices/Why-have-my-prices-gone-up.aspx

keeley1973

Viper_7 wrote: »

They justified it in the letter they sent you informing you of the increase.

Actually, they did not send me a letter confirming the increase. I found out via an internet link that their prices had gone up and then checked on a price comparison site which confirmed the increased amounts (which they then confirmed in a telephone conversation)

keeley1973

meggsy wrote: »

They also said this

http://thebrighterenergydebate.npower.com/energyprices/Why-have-my-prices-gone-up.aspx

Hmm, interesting reading. Seems they are quite open about the fact that internet tarifs are likely to increase at a higher %. Thought the point of internet stuff is that it supposed to be cheaper as they have less work to do - lol When I phoned they did offer me a option to switch to a different online tarif, however this was almost exactly the same pence per unit and would only potentially save me 0.5% a year!