SSE No Standing Charge tariffs finish.

ihateyes

Anthorn wrote: »

Ebico which has SSE as its partner to provide energy is still free of a standing charge and its tariff is still a little bit cheaper than the SSE equivalent. Not only that but all Ebico customers pay the same tariff regardless of the billing method and meter and they have no tiered rates. The change for you will be in the name of the energy company only since SSE will be the provider of the energy and bills still come from SSE.

The drawback is that SSE is increasing prices rather dramatically, 9.4% for me, on November 15th. I got the letter about it from Ebico this morning. But I think it won't be long before other energy companies follow suit!

https://www.ebico.org.uk/

Ebico is i believe a subsidury of SSE, bit like Plusnet and BT.

AS OFGEM are telling energy companies to charge a standing charge, im unsure how EBICO can continue to do this.....

Also IF EBICO are truly independant, and do not contribute towards INVESTMENT and UPGRADING of the grid..... why arent they so much cheaper.....

Also why are SSE then selling to them cheaper?

EBICO willnot and cannot keep BRITIAN lit.

Anthorn

ihateyes wrote: »

Ebico is i believe a subsidury of SSE, bit like Plusnet and BT.

AS OFGEM are telling energy companies to charge a standing charge, im unsure how EBICO can continue to do this.....

Also IF EBICO are truly independant, and do not contribute towards INVESTMENT and UPGRADING of the grid..... why arent they so much cheaper.....

Also why are SSE then selling to them cheaper?

EBICO willnot and cannot keep BRITIAN lit.

So how does that change the fact that Ebico doesn't have standing charges?

As I understand the directive, energy companies were asked to simplify tariffs and not to issue a standing charge for all customers per se. The Ebico tariff is already simplified. Can't get much more simplified than the same price for all customers.

I suppose the difference is that Ebico doesn't have a dual fuel discounted tariff: On comparison sites which do a comparison with Ebico they simply add together the two Ebico single tariffs.

Farway

ihateyes wrote: »

AS OFGEM are telling energy companies to charge a standing charge, im unsure how EBICO can continue to do this.....

.

As I understand it, all must have a standing charge shown on bill, but there is no compulsion to charge one, thus the standing charge can be zero, zilch, nothing, so guess that is the way Ebico, and maybe other energy suppliers may go

DragonQ

ihateyes wrote: »

AS OFGEM are telling energy companies to charge a standing charge, im unsure how EBICO can continue to do this.....

Easy. By setting a standing charge of 0p/day.

ihateyes wrote: »

Also IF EBICO are truly independant, and do not contribute towards INVESTMENT and UPGRADING of the grid..... why arent they so much cheaper.....

Also why are SSE then selling to them cheaper?

As I understand it, they essentially wholesale from SSE, which is why they're not much cheaper than all the other providers. SSE presumably sets the cost they charge Ebico to whatever makes Ebico not very competitive.

It just so happens that their pricing structure benefits low energy users, just like other tariffs (e.g. those with high standing charges and low unit rates) benefit high energy users.

Farway wrote: »

As I understand it, all must have a standing charge shown on bill, but there is no compulsion to charge one, thus the standing charge can be zero, zilch, nothing, so guess that is the way Ebico, and maybe other energy suppliers may go

The problem is that Ofgem put a stop to two-tier pricing structures, so it's unlikely that any of the "big 6" will have zero-standing-charge tariffs any more. If they did, they would have to offer a single unit rate like Ebico, making it way too easy for comparisons between companies. Ebico can obviously do it because they're not-for-profit.

ihateyes

so who is conning who....

The big 6 that generate power, say they need to make massive profits to reinvest in the power structure of the UK....

AS EBICO dont generate this power, are they or arent they contributing to the network... if not, surely they should be cheaper than what they are?

DragonQ

You don't seem to understand. Ebico doesn't make a profit so they're not "conning" anybody. The only way they can reduce prices is if they improve efficiency in their administration or if wholesale prices drop. SSE will charge Ebico £x per kWh - I'm not sure if this is regulated but presumably Ebico doesn't have much to negotiate with.

DragonQ

By the way, nPower has a tariff that beats EquiPower in every way right now:

- No standing charge
- Lower unit price
- Price fixed until April 2015
- No exit fees

So this tariff (Price Fix April 2015) plus EquiGas seems best for holiday homes, very low users, etc. right now. You can get £15 cashback too.

Nada666

DragonQ wrote: »

By the way, nPower has a tariff that beats EquiPower in every way right now:

- No standing charge
- Lower unit price
- Price fixed until April 2015
- No exit fees

So this tariff (Price Fix April 2015) plus EquiGas seems best for holiday homes, very low users, etc. right now. You can get £15 cashback too.

It does have a standing charge. £42 per year. There is also a direct debit discount - but that does not mean there is no standing charge.

DragonQ

Nada666 wrote: »

It does have a standing charge. £42 per year. There is also a direct debit discount - but that does not mean there is no standing charge.

The direct debit discount exactly matches the standing charge, so if you pay by direct debit it's the same as there being no standing charge and just paying the unit rate. Should've mentioned that, sorry.

There's no situation where EquiPower would be cheaper if you're paying by direct debit.

Nada666

I don't disagree with your recommendation. But do think it is wrong to state there is no standing charge. The confusion marketing (comparison sites are complicit in this, too) of already including the discount in quoted standing charges as well as separately declaring the discount is wrong.

Not all npower electricity tariffs have charges neutralised by discounts. And the mix varies widely between the two fuels on different tariffs. Some tariffs have are £40/£180, some £130/£80. The insane, wild variation means it is impossible to just look at a price and immediately detect whether or not it already includes the discount. And often footnotes do not clarify at all.