Octopus Energy reviews: Give your feedback

Telegraph_Sam

I have just today accepted Octopus' renewal invite for Tracker gas on which there was a no strings attached (as far as I could see) get out of jail card included in the terms.
Your first para is essentially correct in that I had assumed (..) that the alternative tariffs were going to be better value if one was able to do at least a limited amount of load shifting with Tracker offering a kind of half way house. I have yet to include the SVT in the analysis.

Robgmun

double_dutchy said:

Although Octopus say prices will probably be higher in winter that certainly wasn't the case last year. I've been on tracker for both gas and electric since last June. For the first 3 months I paid a bit more than the SVR, but since October unit rates have been lower than SVR, i.e for the whole of last winter and continuing until now

Really?

That's not what the tracker website here says, 

https://energy-stats.uk/octopus-tracker-london/

If you look at the Electric and Gas Tracker for the last 365 days it seems like it was far higher than SVR for the months of August, September and December of 2022. Is this incorrect? Does anyone else want to shed any light?

double_dutchy

Robgmun said:

If you look at the Electric and Gas Tracker for the last 365 days it seems like it was far higher than SVR for the months of August, September and December of 2022. Is this incorrect? 

Hello Robgmun,

Yes, I see I've misrepresented that slightly. Anyone on tracker for the whole of the last 12 months would have been protected by lower caps and also the government's EPG so wouldn't actually have paid those higher prices but clearly if that were to repeat in the next 12 months there wouldn't be that same protection.

The main point I was trying to make was that prices aren't necessarily higher in winter, as Octopus say, apart from a 25 day spike in December prices have been lower than SVR for the whole of last winter and until now, as your link shows

Telegraph_Sam

Tks for bringing those very interesting graphs to my attention. My not so new mobile struggles with anything remotely complex but am I right in thinking that these graphs don't show a comparison with the SVR which was what set the ball rolling at the start?

Telegraph_Sam

.. or for the uninitiated is SVR = Flexible?

Gerry1

Telegraph_Sam said:

.. or for the uninitiated is SVR = Flexible?

Yes, same thing.

Telegraph_Sam

double_dutchy said:

 apart from a 25 day spike in December prices have been lower than SVR for the whole of last winter and until now, as your link shows

I don't seem to be able to overlay or compare the SVR / Flexible with Tracker on the graphs. Am I missing something?

Contrary to my assumptions it looks like historically speaking electricity has been more volatile than gas.

[Deleted User]

The fact that people are trying to make a decision on Tracker based on what they can see in the ‘rear view’ mirror suggests to me that this is not the type of tariff that they should be on. It is a bit like choosing a share based on the fact that its price rose by 10% the previous year. If anything,  people should be looking at future wholesale price trends with the caveat that wholesale prices are the first to react when there is an extraordinary World event.

Telegraph_Sam

Do you have any info on future wholesale price trends?

masonic

Telegraph_Sam said:

Do you have any info on future wholesale price trends?

We have some insights based on what is predicted to happen to the price cap over the winter period (i.e. it's not predicted to change much). That doesn't mean to say there won't be short term price spikes, but an opportunity exists to fix at not much above current SVR pricing, and that doesn't look very attractive at the present time. It would be an option for those who would be put into financial difficulties by unexpected high prices. For those who could absorb higher prices, however grudgingly, it's perhaps worth the gamble on present knowledge.

There has been much discussion on the Tracker thread that in a toss-up between Tracker and Agile, Tracker is the better place to be in a high price period due to the different multipliers. As far as I'm aware, the other smart tariffs still require an EV. Personally, for the two and a bit months I was on Agile, most days I would have been better off on Tracker. It was only on price plunge days I could reverse that trend, and it was only the recent weekend with significant negative pricing that allowed me to swing to a saving overall on Agile vs Tracker (not something I expected to be able to repeat going forward).

As someone who has seemed reluctant to do any load shifting, I'd be surprised if Agile would be in your list of potential options, so that makes your decision rather easier.