We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.
This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
The Forum now has a brand new text editor, adding a bunch of handy features to use when creating posts. Read more in our how-to guide
Standing Charges?
babe_ruth_3
Posts: 279 Forumite
in Energy
I am a member of a church with a very small congregation. At the moment we use powergen for our electricity.
We had a letter saying that our electricity plan is up for renewal. The thing is, the charge per unit increase we can cope with but they have put up the standing charge from £16 (approx) per quarter to £41 per quarter :eek: which is a lot more than the actual electicity we use.
I phoned them and they reduced the price per unit but said that they can't do anything to reduce the standing charge as it's set by our local meter reading services,and no matter which supplier we choose the standing charge would be the same. Does anyone know if this is true?
Thanks for any replies.
We had a letter saying that our electricity plan is up for renewal. The thing is, the charge per unit increase we can cope with but they have put up the standing charge from £16 (approx) per quarter to £41 per quarter :eek: which is a lot more than the actual electicity we use.
I phoned them and they reduced the price per unit but said that they can't do anything to reduce the standing charge as it's set by our local meter reading services,and no matter which supplier we choose the standing charge would be the same. Does anyone know if this is true?
Thanks for any replies.
It is unwise to pay too much but it's worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, all you lose is a little money... that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot...it can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better (John Ruskin - 19 ctry author, art critic & social reformer)
0
Comments
-
Hmmm, doesn't look likely to me...
Standing charges for East Midlands area (figures from Energyhelpline.com):
ScottishPower - Online
£52.52/year
Atlantic - Internet Direct
£24.09/year
BG - Click Energy 2
£19.09/year (Collected in Tier 1 units)
So just in those 3 examples, the standing charge varies by 64%. So at least for domestic accounts, standing charges are certainly not fixed by area.
Edit: Plus, some suppliers (e.g. Ebico) do not charge any standing charge at all.0 -
Thanks masonic for your reply. Do you think powergen are trying it on?
They are telling me that I have to come back to them by the 15th (next week) or the contact will be set for another year.
The other thing I don't understand is that Martin says prices are coming down
so how come they are putting them up?It is unwise to pay too much but it's worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, all you lose is a little money... that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot...it can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better (John Ruskin - 19 ctry author, art critic & social reformer)0 -
Maybe they are, but even if they are not, it can't hurt to shop around, can it?0
-
Thanks again masonic.
I am going to try and find the time to shop around and Iv'e just spoken to scottish power but their business dept is closed this morning. I have only had bad experiences in the past when changing suppliers and I suppose I was hoping to talk powergen into doing a deal on the standing charge but they won't.
It is unwise to pay too much but it's worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, all you lose is a little money... that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot...it can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better (John Ruskin - 19 ctry author, art critic & social reformer)0 -
Before you listen to any advice could you advise whether your on a business tariff or domestic.
As it sounds to me like your business as powergen do not charge a standing charge on domestic products. Which means any of the figures by masonic are actually incorrect.
The reason why your seeing your prices going up is probably because you have been on a fixed contract rate which has protected you against price increases. You can move from business to domestic with powergen under certain circumstances (Which you will need to check with them) which means the standing charge would be removed and you pay for what you use through a 2 tier system.
If your a low user however this will work out miles cheaper then the business tariff your currently on.0 -
Our bill says we are on Business electricity Plan 1 Base rate. I have never understood this as we are not a business but I seem to think that when I have questioned powergen in the past they have told us that as a church we have to be on their business plan. I will give them another call and check again.
I'm not sure if we are on capped rate. The invoice doesn't state that we are.
However we are on a yearly contract with them.It is unwise to pay too much but it's worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, all you lose is a little money... that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot...it can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better (John Ruskin - 19 ctry author, art critic & social reformer)0 -
they are telling me that regulations state that it cannot go over to domestic as it is not a domestic property (ie no one living on the premises) and that charities also have to be on a business plan too.
It is unwise to pay too much but it's worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, all you lose is a little money... that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot...it can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better (John Ruskin - 19 ctry author, art critic & social reformer)0 -
I would change supplier to Ebico, which by the way is a Christian company, which doesnt't have standing charges.
Everyone pays only for the units they use, if you dont use any then the bill is zero. Should be interesting as to whether they clas a church as a business, worth a try?
Detais here http://www.ebico.co.uk/en/open/pages/powertariffsen.phpac's lovechild0 -
they are telling me that regulations state that it cannot go over to domestic as it is not a domestic property (ie no one living on the premises) and that charities also have to be on a business plan too.
I will check that as that doesn't ring true to me - Otherwise they could say the same for holiday homes as well.
I'll check on monday and see what they say.
Either way Masonics prices relate to Domestic tariffs. - Your not on a capped rate. Business is alwasy one / two year fixed contract.0 -
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply
Categories
- All Categories
- 354.1K Banking & Borrowing
- 254.3K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 455.3K Spending & Discounts
- 247.1K Work, Benefits & Business
- 603.7K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 178.3K Life & Family
- 261.2K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.7K Read-Only Boards