British Gas £91/yr standing charge to zero-gas users

2010

Nada666 wrote: »

Why on earth will Ofgem advocate a low standing charge?

I didn`t say they would unlike you who said Ofgem is going to impose a SC of £157 per meter.

For the very last time, Ofgem hasn`t said yet what the enforced SC will be.
You`re the one who said £157 per meter without any proof of it.

It hasn`t been decided yet, get it!

Nada666

2010 wrote: »

I didn`t say they would unlike you who said Ofgem is going to impose a SC of £157 per meter.

For the very last time, Ofgem hasn`t said yet what the enforced SC will be.
You`re the one who said £157 per meter without any proof of it.

It hasn`t been decided yet, get it!

Who says it has? And where do you get the idea that British Gas' SCs are 'among the highest'?

2010

Nada666 wrote: »

Ofgem are intending to increase the standing charge from £91 to £157 odd and not allow suppliers any leeway.

YOU said it has.

Ryune

If you have a meter and are on a tariff that includes a standing charge then you pay the standing charge as long as the meter exists, regardless of whether the supply is capped.

As the standing charge is likely to be small for the period you may have have some luck getting BG to just write it off once the meter is removed if you argue enough, however they're not obliged to do so. If British Gas were to take an unreasonable length of time to remove the meter you may also have some luck.

joncombe

2010 wrote: »

I didn`t say they would unlike you who said Ofgem is going to impose a SC of £157 per meter.

For the very last time, Ofgem hasn`t said yet what the enforced SC will be.
You`re the one who said £157 per meter without any proof of it.

It hasn`t been decided yet, get it!

I'm aware of the Ofgem tariff simplification but I'm not aware of any changes that mean standing charges will be fixed by Ofgem and the same across all suppliers. Is this new and if so do you have a source for this information?

From the information I have about the tariff simplification, it means suppliers can no longer offer two tier tariffs (with different unit rates depending on consumption) and all tariffs must be charged as a single unit rate and a standing charge. However Ofgem have confirmed to me that the standing charge *can* be zero. I'm aware of course that the vast majority of suppliers have opted to do away with tariffs with no standing charge. However there are a few, such as EBICO and Ecotricity that have no standing charge (on at least some tariffs) and have said they will set the standing charge at 0p (at least in the case of EBICO). And there are others such as Npower who have an electricity tariff where the standing charge exactly matches the direct debit discount so a "virtual no standing charge" tariff.

I hope Ofgem are not planning to abolish tariffs with a 0p standing charge as well? If so, I will certainly complain.

I made an FOI request when I became aware of the Ofgem proposals for "tariff simplification" back in April. You can read it here.
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/requirement_to_introduce_a_stand

Has it changed since then?

2010

joncombe wrote: »

Has it changed since then?

First of all thanks for showing your FOI request and reply.

Yesterday after reading Nada666 inaccurate post, where it claimed Ofgem was going to impose a £157 per meter standing charge with no leeway for the suppliers, I did a quick Google and found the following Ofgem proposal.

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/ofgem-publications/39644/standardised-element-consultation.pdf

(Page 4)

all standard tariffs would be structured to consist of a compulsory regional standing charge plus a national unit rate set by suppliers (day / night rates for Economy 7 (E7) tariffs); Ofgem would set the compulsory regional standing charge, and possibly a regional adjuster to the unit rate to account for regional differences in network costs that vary with consumption;3 and we would consult on the detailed methodology that would be use to set the standing charge and possible regional adjuster in early 2012.

It would seem by your post that they didn`t do it, unfortunately.