Are Scottish Power Shafting me !!!!

macman

Er, don't panic, I think your old gas meter will have been an imperial one if it was 20+ years old. Your new one will be metric (it's stamped on the front).
Imperial meters measure in 100's cu ft, metric in cu m. The latter is a smaller unit, so the meter spins much faster. the difference is a factor or about 2.83, so 3 imperial units roughly equates to 8.5 metric ones.
It makes no difference to your bill, as the result in kWh's is the same (just make sure when you get your bill that the calculation includes the metric conversion).
I find it incredible that SP CS, knowing your meter had been changed, did not pick up on this.

agedgolfer

Many thanks, I do hope you're right! When I do the conversion using your factor of 2.83 the results make a lot of sense. Very odd that no-one in authority - Scottish Power, National Grid nor my tame engineer - came up with the solution you suggest. Have a bee:beer:r on me!

macman

Look at your last bill, it will be quite clear if the volume conversion to kWh was metric or imperial.

Scottish_Power

Hi LolaBoo,

As you have only been on supply for a few months our reassesment will be based solely on winter consumpiton and is most likely inaccurate.

If you e-mail me with your details and up to date meter reads I will see what I can do.

My e-mail address is [EMAIL="onlinecomplaints@scottishpower.com"]onlinecomplaints@scottishpower.com[/EMAIL]

Kind regards

Graeme @ ScottishPower

skyewill

I'm having the same problem. Switched to Scottish Power in November at a monthly direct debit of £77. Now they are saying it should be increased to £122. Still trying to sort it out.

yabbadoo

Your posted question is "are Scottish Power shafting me?" - if translated into "Am I paying too much?, the probable answer is YES. (I was with Scottish Power on a 3 year deal till last Oct, switched when they asked for >16% increase when it ended).

Taking the time and effort to establish actual usage is the "right" way, but not always easy.

There's a simpler way to do it, equally effective. All that's needed are "start" and "end" billing units (and totals) over several months including the winter period, and basic maths. The following calculations can be done on paper, but a simple spreadsheet is quicker and better.

It also works whether there are Standing Charges or not (or a combination of both when comparing).

Step 1 - calculate the no. of days between the Start and End dates of the bills, then divide 365 by that no. This will give a figure of 1.xxx if period is more than 6 months but less than a year - the longer the period, the better.

Step 2 - for both Gas and Electricity - deduct the Start billing reading from the earliest bill from the End reading on the last bill, then multiply it by the factor estabilshed in Step 1 - this will give an annual usage figure.

Step 3 - Total the individual bills' summary energy charges (excluding standing charges if applied) and multiply by the factor from Step 1. This will give annual cost of Gas and Electricity.

Step 4 (only if Standing Charges apply) - multiply the daily standing charge by 365 to establish annual cost.

Step 5 - Add the figures from Steps 3 and 4 together to arrive at the annual cost of your current supplier, then deduct any offerings such as £10 a year for direct debits, paperless billing, dual fuel, etc.

You now have usable figuress for comparison purposes (and whilst there may be an element of inaccuracy since either or both Start/End readings may be estimated readings on your bills, the comparison is valid, as is the effective averaging of "split" rate cost (the first X units at a higher rate per quarter).

Step 6 - compare competitive offerings, using the Annualsied usage figures established in Step 2.
Using their Unit rate figures EXCL VAT, calculate the annual cost and compare it to your figure established in Step 5. (If Standing charges apply, compare it to Step 4)

It's longer to type this than to do it ! As Alexandre says, SIMPLES !!

FWIW - I made my own spreadsheet some years ago, which comes in useful each year. I update it each year. As said earlier, I was with Scottish Power (who didn't use Standing Charges) I switched last Oct to OVO (who do) and my bills today are what I was paying 4 years ago, with no changes in average consumption.

You might like to check them out - www.ovoenergy.com - single rate billing, lowest standing charges of all suppliers when I last checked. Horses for courses - it worked for me!

macman

It's a lo less bovver to do that in seconds on a comp site, once you have your annual kWh figures.

yabbadoo

Perhaps - but what comes up on a comparison site isn't always the same in practice, in my experience.

I always double check by going to the provider's site, getting the unit costs and doing the math via spreadsheet. Surprisng how many times the result differs from that advertised!

I don't claim to be an expert, just ask to be judged by results. My current bills are the same as what they were 4 years ago with no reduction in usage (so in effect have avoided 4 years of inflation) which has more than repaid the time and trouble spent creating the original spreadsheet.

macman

If you put the actual kWh figures into a comp site, the results are accurate, and include all the discounts, bonuses etc that you would have to manually insert via a spreadsheet. Unit rates alone tell us nothing
We regularly see posts on here claiming that the comp sites are inaccurate, but when asked to post evidence, it rarely stands up.