Octopus Energy reviews: Give your feedback

masonic

Umiamz said:

masonic said:

Interesting. I wonder what approach they will take with those already on a tariff who no longer qualify when the term comes to an end.

At the time I went on Agile (and then Go Faster) I did have an EV but they were also pitching it to developers (both professional and amateur) who wanted to automate load-shifting.

They were happy to offer me Go Faster just on the basis I had some high load appliances (electric shower and heating), but it sounds like they might not let me renew next year (though I have no idea at this stage whether staying would be the best option). I guess anything could happen between now and then.

Umiamz

masonic said:

Umiamz said:

masonic said:

Interesting. I wonder what approach they will take with those already on a tariff who no longer qualify when the term comes to an end.

At the time I went on Agile (and then Go Faster) I did have an EV but they were also pitching it to developers (both professional and amateur) who wanted to automate load-shifting.

They were happy to offer me Go Faster just on the basis I had some high load appliances (electric shower and heating), but it sounds like they might not let me renew next year (though I have no idea at this stage whether staying would be the best option). I guess anything could happen between now and then.

As Murray Walker used to say, "Anything could happen and it probably will".

Telegraph_Sam

If I have an EV but not my own home charging point, and my neighbour runs a diesel, if we are both Octopus customers, what is the difference in their eyes as far as qualifying for their ToU tariffs is concerned? 

niktheguru

They've always had it in their terms and conditions about it being an ev or battery tariff to my knowledge, I may be wrong but remember seeing it when I took go faster out earlier this year. They even ask it on the survey, but it wasn't really enforced, hence why loads of people have chosen go and go faster as it just made economical sense.

I'd be interested to see how they would enforce it this time around if they actually have changed tact.

[Deleted User]

Who thinks that tariffs will drop again once this is over?
Or are we in it for the longterm? 

savers_united

niktheguru said:

They've always had it in their terms and conditions about it being an ev or battery tariff to my knowledge, I may be wrong but remember seeing it when I took go faster out earlier this year. They even ask it on the survey, but it wasn't really enforced, hence why loads of people have chosen go and go faster as it just made economical sense.

I'd be interested to see how they would enforce it this time around if they actually have changed tact.

I have noticed more non EV owners discussing the benefits of Go and Go faster so it does seem to have been abused although Octopus did nothing to stop this.

I guess when the tariffs are due for renewel or new customers they could ask for proof of EV ownership. Leasing contracts, V5 etc with address. It's what I needed to do in order to get a grant for the wall box charger.

With the half hour smart readings they can quite quickly work out those not using it to charge their EV. 

masonic

Deleted_User said:

Who thinks that tariffs will drop again once this is over?
Or are we in it for the longterm? 

EV ownership is becoming more common, and Octopus is becoming a large energy supplier. I can't really see how cross-subsidising EV ownership at the expense of regular customers can continue long term (it works when the subsidised users are in a tiny minority). In the short term Go and Go Faster rates may fall back close to where they were.

[Deleted User]

masonic said:

Deleted_User said:

Who thinks that tariffs will drop again once this is over?
Or are we in it for the longterm? 

EV ownership is becoming more common, and Octopus is becoming a large energy supplier. I can't really see how cross-subsidising EV ownership at the expense of regular customers can continue long term (it works when the subsidised users are in a tiny minority). In the short term Go and Go Faster rates may fall back close to where they were.

As more people make use of low demand/low price periods then it follows that they will become high demand/high price. Personally, I believe that we will see some levelling off of prices but from what I read no analysts are predicting massive reductions. Despite the government arguing that we have diverse supply, the problem is that the highest bidder gets the energy. A lot of the LPG that used to head Westwards is now going to Asia. 

savers_united

Dolor said:

masonic said:

Deleted_User said:

Who thinks that tariffs will drop again once this is over?
Or are we in it for the longterm? 

EV ownership is becoming more common, and Octopus is becoming a large energy supplier. I can't really see how cross-subsidising EV ownership at the expense of regular customers can continue long term (it works when the subsidised users are in a tiny minority). In the short term Go and Go Faster rates may fall back close to where they were.

As more people make use of low demand/low price periods then it follows that they will become high demand/high price. Personally, I believe that we will see some levelling off of prices but from what I read no analysts are predicting massive reductions. Despite the government arguing that we have diverse supply, the problem is that the highest bidder gets the energy. A lot of the LPG that used to head Westwards is now going to Asia. 

This is what should be happening, we should be encouraged to utilise the excess electricity that is being produced during the night when demand is low, its more efficient to keep the turbines turning but we do not have great capacity to store this excess electric, so it's a perfect time to charge EVs and other high powered items. 

Octopus also generates power so they have control of the full cycle and careful modelling and algorithms can work out when there will be excess in the system. 
The key observation here they have retained the 5p off peak rate, and only increased the peak rate so its aligned to other Octopus tariffs, this is a sensible move to protect the Go and Go faster tariff. These new rates make it less attractive for non EV owners, I think it's here to stay but with some extra checks and balances moving forward. 

masonic

savers_united said:

Dolor said:

masonic said:

Deleted_User said:

Who thinks that tariffs will drop again once this is over?
Or are we in it for the longterm? 

EV ownership is becoming more common, and Octopus is becoming a large energy supplier. I can't really see how cross-subsidising EV ownership at the expense of regular customers can continue long term (it works when the subsidised users are in a tiny minority). In the short term Go and Go Faster rates may fall back close to where they were.

As more people make use of low demand/low price periods then it follows that they will become high demand/high price. Personally, I believe that we will see some levelling off of prices but from what I read no analysts are predicting massive reductions. Despite the government arguing that we have diverse supply, the problem is that the highest bidder gets the energy. A lot of the LPG that used to head Westwards is now going to Asia. 

This is what should be happening, we should be encouraged to utilise the excess electricity that is being produced during the night when demand is low, its more efficient to keep the turbines turning but we do not have great capacity to store this excess electric, so it's a perfect time to charge EVs and other high powered items. 

Octopus also generates power so they have control of the full cycle and careful modelling and algorithms can work out when there will be excess in the system. 
The key observation here they have retained the 5p off peak rate, and only increased the peak rate so its aligned to other Octopus tariffs, this is a sensible move to protect the Go and Go faster tariff. These new rates make it less attractive for non EV owners, I think it's here to stay but with some extra checks and balances moving forward.

It's worth mentioning that Economy 7 has been around for a long time with the same objective, but generally much higher off-peak prices. I switched from an E7 tariff to Go Faster for that very reason. The ideal scenario for Octopus is to have EV users on a tariff like Agile if they can be flexible in when they charge their vehicle. Agile is the canary for whether or not there really is any excess electricity in the system and I think it's given us a clear answer in recent months.