I've found Genuine CHEAP ENERGY-both Gas and Electricity

animalambulanceman

Just check my last 12 months electricity useage-2,900kwh for the whole year.

spiro

The BG no standing charge PPM tariff is only available if you have a modern meter. This is shown on their website, and I quote:

For prepayment meters, the No Standing Charge prices apply to standard tariff customers on single rate Actaris meters with "KBD" on the front. If you don't have an Actaris KBD meter, we can install one. For new customers it may take up to 28 days after supply start date for the No Standing Charge prices to be updated to the prepayment meter.

The standing charge/no standing charge is actually a bit of a con because if you are on a standing charge tariff you pay the charge but all elec units are at the same price. If you are on a no standing charge tariff you pay 2 rates for your elec and the extra cost for the first units per quarter equates to the equivalent of the standing charge.

HappyMJ

animalambulanceman wrote: »

I'm a very very low energy user as my heating comes from a communal supply and the only gas I use is for an ascot style water heater-I have an electric shower.I use a typical single persons amount of electricity,fridge/freezer,tv,cooker,lighting computer etc and this was roughly £10 worth bought every 2 weeks throughout the year on my prepayment key.Last year I spent only £300 on electricity for the whole year and about £130 on gas so i'm certainly a low rate consumer who was paying almost 33% of my total expenditure on standing charges.The figures stacked up for me to change supplier and I thought that it could be the same for others in the same position and it would be worth them checking things out.

2900kWh isn't particularly low. 3300kWh per year is average. You need to be careful what statement you make. Forum posters are only saying what they are saying because you capitalized CHEAP ENERGY in your headline and only made a small mention of prepayment meters. Ebico is cheapest in many cases for people with prepayment meters. You will find it hard to convince people on here that 2900kWh*13.4p is cheaper than 2900kWh*13p+(52*£1.26). I've found that posters on this board are convinced the only tariff's that people should ever be interested in are Web only paper free, monthly direct debit, dual fuel with 12+ month fixed contracts. I'm personally simply not interested in those tariffs even though they appear to be the cheapest. I'll pay my bill in my own time so my expensive Npower tariff with my 24.66p primary rate and 15.15p secondary rate is best for me with Ebico about the same. If you stay with Ebico and have a prepayment meter then you will most probably be on the best tariff already so well done for choosing the best tariff available to you.

grahamc2003

animalambulanceman wrote: »

Just check my last 12 months electricity useage-2,900kwh for the whole year.

On your new tariff, that will cost you £388.60 (not sure if that includes vat or not).

On my tariff, if not E7, (and I'm just posting it for bit of factual evidence to clarify the situation a little, even though other posters assure me that you wouldn't lke my t&cs) the cost would be £356.04 (including vat).

So, in this case, if you could get the tariff I'm on (and there are probably many more at a similar price), your electricity could be about 8% cheaper, even though a pretty hefty standing charge (equivalent) is charged, and you are quite a light user. For heavier users, the extra cost differential the tariff you describe as Cheap would become potentially very large.

animalambulanceman

It was only because of the confusing "no standing charge" condition from British Gas BUT with 2 different rates for supply there was one really that I changed supplier and posted a note here at all.It got my thinking as with 2 rates for electrictiy it did work out more expensive to buy from them.If i hadn't got a prepayment meter I would have probably never twigged at all.With my gas it was different and from the outset I could see that the charge per kwh was much cheaper through Ebico and their no standing charge was a bonus.Obviously every case is different and some people won't save by purchasing through Ebico but it is an extra company to consider when looking for the best price for supply.I'd never heard of them until a couple of months ago until I started "Googling" away and suspect that there are many other people in the same postion.

By the way Happy MJ you're right about the saving on electricity being small-British Gas worked it out to be less than 4p a day.To be fair to British Gas they did give me a credit-got £4 extra put on my key when buying my normal amount-to compensate me for the confusion and this evened up the difference-so they are not that bad to deal with.

Premier_2

animalambulanceman wrote: »

....Finally I want to make you aware of the fact that EBICO state that they are a "non-profit making" concern-this seems wrong or just plain crazy to me as in this day and age nobody does something for nothing.Personally I don't give a "monkeys" about what their motivation is -all I'm interested in is getting my energy supplied at the lowest possible cost to me....

I can assure you they are a non profit making company.
Despite what you may otherwise assume, and I can understand why you may assume that, but there are still a number of people in this world who are not just out for themselves. The company has 3 directors and they are guided by gospel principles (don't let that worry anyone either, there is definitely no bible pushing either) and that is why the company's whole ethos is as it is - treating everyone equally/fairly.

You do need to understand what non profit really making means though .
e.g. if they bought 1kWh of electricity at £1 and sold it at £1, then that would be non-profit making at it's simplest.
But I'd rather pay a different supplier say 15p per kWh, even if they were making a 100% margin on that

However, non profit making also does not mean anyone works for nothing (but even the directors only take a typical middle income salary), it does not mean they give energy away or even are the cheapest supplier. The company survives or dies on the way it operates. If it loses money it will not survive. In fact it actually makes money; it may seem quite a bit if you look at the actual amount but in terms of per customer (they have over 50,000 today) it's actually a very small amount.
As a non profit making company, they are controlled as to how any surpluses are distributed; you can find out more about where any surpluses goes from their website.

If you want the lowest possible cost to you, I would suggest you consult a comparison site. If you are using 2900kWh per year electricity, you may well find cheaper elsewhere (even with the PPM you have)

Premier_2

KimYeovil wrote: »

... It is not sustainable.

They've been going for about 10 years now and have gone from strength to strength increasing customer numbers. They are not making any losses.

Just as the directors are, there are many who are not totally focused on saving money; some feel it would be a better world if people cared for each other rather than just looked after No. 1

As the MD explained about a year ago on BBC Working Lunch, their policy of offering one price to all is essentially created by taking the discounts that other companies offer those who use a lot and/or pay monthly by DD and using these to subsidise those with PPMs.

This is very broad brushing, but it is based on those who can afford to use a lot of energy and/or pay for it monthly by DD are generally better off than those who are low users and/or forced to use PPMs. Believe it or not, there are many who support everyone paying the same price especially as it means those who can afford it supporting the more vulnerable in our society.
Even here, on what is a money saving website, you will find members who support this basic philosophy. (look in other threads on Ebico)

Farway

animalambulanceman wrote: »

Just check my last 12 months electricity useage-2,900kwh for the whole year.

Gosh you are chucking it away, mine was just under 1500 Kw

Gas CH though, at 8102 Kw per annum

I do use Ebico, for much same reason as explained by Premier in previous post

Ken68

Yes Animal etc. Ebico is my provider of choice, when I aint cashbackering.
Electric 1287 and Gas 9200. :-}}}}}}}

alangc

Have been an ebico user for a number of years, I recently decided to put my gas on a standard meter as opposed to the prepay card I inherited in this property. Was informed an £80 charge and most worrying account has to be set up for direct debit. The main rfeason I originally went to ebico was the fact you could pay how you like and my electric account has always been settled ontime. Have started to have a rethink on the whole "ebico idea" - if I change I might as well go down the uswitch or similar route. Again I say I am most disappointed in ebico.