Octopus Energy reviews: Give your feedback

[Deleted User]

Telegraph_Sam said:

Would you agree that it would not be simple to calculate the net benefits of SEG's vs FIT's in advance, other than suck it and see (after 12 months)?

I appreciate that you want certainty but that isn’t going to happen. I am on SEG because I do not have the FIT option: that said, with meter that records exported energy it is pretty simple to compare it against the actual PV output for the past couple of months and see what percentage of the solar generated is being exported. Then compare FIT deemed export rates with SEG rates. Given that Octopus offers 15p/kWh for customers on standard import tariffs, one should be able to make an educated guess on whether SEG would offer a higher return. It is never going to be an exact science. If you get it wrong, it is not a life-changing event as you still retain the FIT generation payments.

QrizB

Telegraph_Sam said:

Would you agree that it would not be simple to calculate the net benefits of SEG's vs FIT's in advance, other than suck it and see (after 12 months)?

On the contrary, its fairly straightforward to get an indication.

You need to know four things:

- How much electricity you generate in a year (from your generation meter readings),

- How much electricity you export in a year (from your smart meter export register readings),

- Your FIT deemed export tariff (for an early FIT, something like 4p/kWh), and

- Your SEG export tariff (for Octopus, Outgoing Fixed is 15p/kWh)

With those numbers it's easy to calculate what you earn in a typical year from FIT deemed export, and how much you would earn in a year from SEG metered export.

We're not talking mega money, but it could be a couple of hundred pounds a year.

gt94sss2

https://octopus.energy/power-ups/

CSI_Yorkshire

gt94sss2 said:

https://octopus.energy/power-ups/

Network constraint management.  Interesting to see it done at this level.

Chrysalis

masonic said:

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.

Yeah for anyone concerned with risk of temporary spikes in pricing, tracker will soften the blow vs agile with its lower multiplier.

On the flip side Agile can get really cheap and even end up paying you to use electric, and has TOU benefits for those who dont have all their usage centred around peak hours.

Personally I dont worry too much about potential future price trends because both tracker and agile are not contractual, they can be left at anytime.  The price history is always going to be some kind of factor, and if I was someone not already on these tariffs, I would take into account the historical trend, but also recognise it provides no assurances for the future.

I think I am a little worse off on tracker vs when I was on agile.  Because my usage isnt centred around peak hours, my awake hours do move around and I have a big % of my usage on 24/7 devices or 12-16 hour devices.

masonic

Chrysalis said:

I think I am a little worse off on tracker vs when I was on agile.  Because my usage isnt centred around peak hours, my awake hours do move around and I have a big % of my usage on 24/7 devices or 12-16 hour devices.

For my actual usage, I am marginally better off with Tracker, but had I load-shifted to take advantage of price plunges, I almost certainly would have been better off on Agile. But I am content not to be planning my day around half-hourly rates for a while.

Mstty

Chrysalis said:

masonic said:

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.

Yeah for anyone concerned with risk of temporary spikes in pricing, tracker will soften the blow vs agile with its lower multiplier.

On the flip side Agile can get really cheap and even end up paying you to use electric, and has TOU benefits for those who dont have all their usage centred around peak hours.

Personally I dont worry too much about potential future price trends because both tracker and agile are not contractual, they can be left at anytime.  The price history is always going to be some kind of factor, and if I was someone not already on these tariffs, I would take into account the historical trend, but also recognise it provides no assurances for the future.

I think I am a little worse off on tracker vs when I was on agile.  Because my usage isnt centred around peak hours, my awake hours do move around and I have a big % of my usage on 24/7 devices or 12-16 hour devices.

I believe there is a change for tracke rut now take sup to two weeks to transfer away. Agile doesn't have this restriction I believe.

I hadn't looked at the multipliers to realise trackers was lower I will have a look.

Chrysalis

Mstty said:

Chrysalis said:

masonic said:

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.

Yeah for anyone concerned with risk of temporary spikes in pricing, tracker will soften the blow vs agile with its lower multiplier.

On the flip side Agile can get really cheap and even end up paying you to use electric, and has TOU benefits for those who dont have all their usage centred around peak hours.

Personally I dont worry too much about potential future price trends because both tracker and agile are not contractual, they can be left at anytime.  The price history is always going to be some kind of factor, and if I was someone not already on these tariffs, I would take into account the historical trend, but also recognise it provides no assurances for the future.

I think I am a little worse off on tracker vs when I was on agile.  Because my usage isnt centred around peak hours, my awake hours do move around and I have a big % of my usage on 24/7 devices or 12-16 hour devices.

I believe there is a change for tracke rut now take sup to two weeks to transfer away. Agile doesn't have this restriction I believe.

I hadn't looked at the multipliers to realise trackers was lower I will have a look.

Yep, I can live with that, but I think I have seen posts on the net from people concerned about those two weeks.

Tracker has a lower multiplier but also has a fixed surcharge for each unit all day to ensure the prices never go below a certain point.

Agile has no surcharge for most of the day, but a higher multiplier, this allows agile prices to go to zero, even negative pricing.  However it does have a surcharge during peak hours which explains to a degree why those few hours can suddenly jump up by a lot.  Hopefully you can find the info, I did post a link and more specific info on the agile thread I think.

Chrysalis

Just won twice out of 4 spins £1 seems higher win rate than usual, but an interesting observation on the spins.

Usually on losing spins it lands one space before the £512 or one space before the £64.

Both the winning spins swapped the £0 before the £512 for a £1 so it still landed before the £512, so if you see it placed there before spinning might be a good sign.

Telegraph_Sam

I opted for Tracker(s) in the end motivated in part by the - relative - peace of mind factor. Compounded by the thought that in order to take advantage of Agile's swings (and roundabouts), I would have to have sufficient demand kWh's on tap ready to be switched on as soon as there was a plunge. That would be less than likely.
Which makes the departure of Go Faster all the more regrettable. It struck me as the ideal pragmatic compromise for those who could offer a limited amount of planned load shifting, which I have yet to find elsewhere.
Since leaving GF I have had two double Wheel of Fortune's. Must be some cause & effect logic there somewhere.