Co-operative Energy now launched

Stuart_W

james2012 wrote: »

But do you get dividend?

Yes, you get 1 dividend point for each £1 spent on fuel.

You also get 25 points for submitting your own reading in any month (so, 50 if both fuels, and upto 600 per year).

The value of each point will depend on the dividend declared by The Midcounties Co-operative Society at the end of their trading year.

You don't have to be a member of Midcounties as you can use your membership number from any of the other "beehive" Co-operative Membership societies (so that's Co-operative Group, Anglia Co-operative, Chelmsford Star, Southern and Midlands (think that's all of them - might have missed one)).

hethmar is right about the online electrical shop. That's where my new laptop came from last week, cheaper than Currys and PCWorld.

johnatho

What about the Scottish COOP?

Farway

£30 a year more than Ebico, no reason to change for me as ethics etc are already in Ebico

Stuart_W

johnatho wrote: »

What about the Scottish COOP?

There is no single "Scottish Co-op". Scottish Midland Co-operative Society (Scotmid) is not part of the reciprocal dividend scheme AFAIK. Pretty much most of the rest of Scotland is covered by The Co-operative Group, which is part of the reciprocal scheme. The last Scottish merger was Lothian, Borders and Angus Co-op which became part of The Co-operative Group.

Stuart_W

Farway wrote: »

£30 a year more than Ebico, no reason to change for me as ethics etc are already in Ebico

I must admit I am a partly-reluctant switcher from Ebico. The commitment to a lower carbon overall fuel mix for everyone seems like it will have the opportunity for a bigger impact than the "opt-in" green tariff or offset approach.

Just like fairtrade moving from the stalls at the back of church halls onto Co-op's shelves in 1994 represented the start of a seachange (resulting with even Cadbury and Nestle now embracing Fairtrade for some lines).

Co-operative Energy announced on 17th March that they would source some of their energy directly from the Westmill Wind Farm Co-operative. Expect to see more of this kind of co-operation. It's what co-ops are all about.

stewie_griffin

Stuart_W wrote: »

hethmar is right about the online electrical shop. That's where my new laptop came from last week, cheaper than Currys and PCWorld.

Seconded. I got my washing machine and fridge freezer from them last year and they were cheaper than anywhere else I could find on the internet. Plus they offer free and really quick delivery.

johnatho

There is no single "Scottish Co-op".

I do actually know that, it was more of a rhetorical question.

So no dividend for me then.

kibblerok

Surely if they wanted transparent pricing they'd not have a standing charge and just charge per unit like Ebico do.

Whilst the industry has standing charges, tiered unit pricing and multiple tariffs per company - it's never going to be easy to compare, even if co-ops is simple.

The energy industry operates in shades of grey, which allows it to get away with so much.

DUTR

heh heh I like this bit ..."We are only £58.00 more per year than your current supplier"

Stuart_W

johnatho wrote: »

I do actually know that, it was more of a rhetorical question.

So no dividend for me then.

You can join The Midcounties Co-operative as part of the sign up process if you like. Membership is open to anyone who trades with the society so as an energy customer you'd be trading with them, no matter where you live.