Lots of confusion

Davedastardly

I don't know why, but the calculations made by MSE relating to my energy costs seem unrealistic. Firstly, I know exactly what the costs of my existing dual fuel tariffs are and can thus accurately compare them with any new tariffs offered. The existing costs calculated by MSE are always too high (I never wait until a standard tariff is due to kick-in) and thus the potential savings are invariably much less than those forecast. The savings are nonetheless worthwhile, though I am still firmly of the view that energy suppliers are substantially increasing their profit margins at the expense of the consumer. The energy market continues to be uncompetitive and I remain convinced that unnecessarily high energy costs contribute to cases of hypothermia and avoidable deaths. This is unconscionable.

System

Comparison sites are required to use what is known as the 'inflated savings' methodology when customers are coming to the end of a fixed tariff. If, for example, you have 2 months to run on your contract, then the future 12 month cost will be 2 months on your existing tariff plus 10 months on the supplier's standard variable tariff. Inflated costs result in inflated savings. To MSE CEC's credit, they also show a simple 12 months on your present tariff compared to 12 months on your new tariff calculation.

footyguy

Davedastardly wrote: »

I don't know why, but the calculations made by MSE relating to my energy costs seem unrealistic. Firstly, I know exactly what the costs of my existing dual fuel tariffs are and can thus accurately compare them with any new tariffs offered. The existing costs calculated by MSE are always too high (I never wait until a standard tariff is due to kick-in) and thus the potential savings are invariably much less than those forecast. The savings are nonetheless worthwhile, though I am still firmly of the view that energy suppliers are substantially increasing their profit margins at the expense of the consumer. The energy market continues to be uncompetitive and I remain convinced that unnecessarily high energy costs contribute to cases of hypothermia and avoidable deaths. This is unconscionable.

I cannot say I have ever found this to be the case.
Perhaps you could provide a specific example of where this occurs.

i.e.
Supply Region (or first part of your postcode)
Supplier & tariff name
Annual consumption in kWh
Cost MSE CEC provide
Cost you think is correct

tim_n

What Hengus says. I have a spreadsheet that uses my annual use for 2015/16 for comparison using the tarrifs and use that instead. You're comparing against a dream when you do what I'm doing, because if I stick with my current energy supplier, it will go up. But for peace of mind, I like to know whether I'm driving my energy costs down.

Now I have solar panels, I'm also trying to work out how much that'll impact my energy costs - obviously if I use less, I might be better off on a different tariff! Granted I've only generated £24 worth of electricity since November, but I have no idea how much it'll actually impact my total bill next year.