MSE News: British Gas standing charges cut from eight to one

Scottishmummy

I am on a BG tariff that doesn't have a standing charge but the unit price is more expensive. This is no longer available to new customers though. For the two years previous to last we definitely saved money this way however last year we changed our cooker to all gas instead of dual fuel and our gas bill has shot up. We will be changing the cooker back (we never got round to selling the old one) and hope that the bill comes down again otherwise the 6 hours I did comparing tariffs will come in handy.

Nada666

Scottishmummy wrote: »

last year we changed our cooker to all gas instead of dual fuel and our gas bill has shot up. We will be changing the cooker back (we never got round to selling the old one) and hope that the bill comes down again

You are seriously trying to say that the cost of the electricity to run a cooker is less than the cost of gas for a gas one? It really takes a pathological situation for the sums to work out that way. It is possible but extremely unlikely. Do you have no gas central heating or gas hot water?

Wywth

What about those on BG's old standard tariff? Will they be forced into paying a standing charge?

I remember it was British Gas that first introduced the no standing charge tariffs to the energy industry, because they said it offered a fairer method of charging. So what's changed? :huh:

Wywth

21Twinkle wrote: »

Sorry - I fail to see how this won't affect my bill
I am a low user - paying about £600 pa dual fuel - if they raise the standing charge - it MUST raise my bill (unless the £/Kwh drops - which it WON'T)

The article says they haven't decided on the level of standing charge yet.

Perhaps they will lower yours, so following your logic, will reduce your bill

Scottishmummy

Nada666 wrote: »

Do you have no gas central heating or gas hot water?

We have both but the only change we have made is to increase our gas usage with the cooker. The winter was nowhere near as cold as the previous two winters so not the heating that is an issue.

Nada666

As you do have such it is very unlikely that electric cooking is cheaper. If you were comparing tier 1 gas for cooking with tier 2 electric for cooking there is an outside chance that the 100% efficiency and fancy fans could outweigh the cheaper kWh cost of gas. But as you are using tier 2 units for both then gas cooking will be cheaper. 4p or 4.5p for gas versus 11p or 13p for electricity - I cannot see how your sums work.

Joyful

Scottishmummy

This last winter my usage was approx the same as 2 years ago. Both winters were very cold so don't compare it to last year. It is very unlikely that your cooker is at fault. Why not use the cooker when your heating is off to see what it is using?

Bigphil1474

Been with British Gas as a duel fuel customer for years. Their idea of simplifying prices was to push me to another supplier. Can' believe standing charge changes will not lead to higher bills. We've always done price comparisons and it was never worth changing until BG made things simpler. We've now swithced to EDF blue fixed, which is £120 a year cheaper to start with, and fixed until 2015. As more and more customers desert BG, their standing charges will have to fill the gap

Wywth

Bigphil1474 wrote: »

Been with British Gas as a duel fuel customer for years. Their idea of simplifying prices was to push me to another supplier. Can' believe standing charge changes will not lead to higher bills. We've always done price comparisons and it was never worth changing until BG made things simpler. We've now swithced to EDF blue fixed, which is £120 a year cheaper to start with, and fixed until 2015. As more and more customers desert BG, their standing charges will have to fill the gap

You are aware that EDF Blue has daily standing charges applied?

But you have done the right thing by consulting a comparison site to find the best deal for you
If you save £120 a year, sounds like you should have done the comparison ages ago