E.ON Electricity Rates Rise by 38% (v21)

inexpert

I apologize if this duplicates an existing thread.

My existing 1 year fixed tariff, v19, is due to expire. The nearest direct replacement is tariff v21. For economy 7 electricity, I have calculated that (per kWh):

The E.ON v21 day rate is:
38.35% higher than E.ON v19
29.45% higher than Scottish Power

The E.ON v21 night rate is:
38.54% higher than E.ON v19
36.50% higher than Scottish Power

(Please see the details below.)

These are extraordinarily large price rises.

I do like E.ON. Their staff have always been friendly and helpful when I've spoken to them. And that does factor into who I choose for my electricity supplier. But it's not enough of a factor to outweigh a near 40% price increase.

I'm a little bit anxious about changing supplier, but have done so today. Were a better tariff from E.ON to appear during the 14 day cooling off period, I would consider it. But as things stand, all I can do is thank E.ON for being my supplier for many years.

Tariff details:

E.ON Energy Fixed 1 Year v21
Day 17.535p per kWh
Night 7.434p per kWh
Standing charge
16.422p per day

E.ON Saver Fixed 1 Year
Day 17.43p per kWh
Night 7.392p per kWh
Standing charge
16.422p per day

Scottish Power Online Fixed Saver March 2018 v2
Day 13.546p per kWh
Night 5.446p per kWh
Standing charge
32.88p per day

(-- current plan --)
E.ON Energy Fixed 1 Year v19
Day 12.674p per kWh
Night 5.366p per kWh
Standing charge
26.019p per day

Note: since I started composing this message, I found a slightly improved tariff from E.ON (see above), but the saving is negligible - about 0.56% per unit, day or night.

Please feel free to correct any errors you might find in the above.

Thank you.

footyguy

Have you consulted a comparison site to find the best deal for you?

Yes, prices have increased, especially since last summer.

Much relates to the cost of oil. It was <$30 a barrel not so long ago, now its about $55 a barrel.
The fall in value of the GBP vs the USD doesn't help either

inexpert

footyguy wrote: »

Have you consulted a comparison site to find the best deal for you?

Yes, prices have increased, especially since last summer.

Yes, the MSE comparator and uSwitch both recommended Scottish Power given my usage and other details, hence my inclusion of their tariff rates in my post. Estimated saving: £431/year.

Cheers.

footyguy

inexpert wrote: »

Yes, the MSE comparator and uSwitch both recommended Scottish Power given my usage and other details, hence my inclusion of their tariff rates in my post. Estimated saving: £431/year.

Cheers.

So, for you, Eon are only 2% more than the cheapest tariff ... and you say there is an even cheaper Eon tariff available to you. Not bad ...but the costs are different for everyone, as usage (and probably region) will differ ... hence the advice is always to consult a comparison site to find the best deal

inexpert

footyguy wrote: »

So, for you, Eon are only 2% more than the cheapest tariff ... and you say there is an even cheaper Eon tariff available to you. Not bad ...but the costs are different for everyone, as usage (and probably region) will differ ... hence the advice is always to consult a comparison site to find the best deal

No, E.ON's day unit price is 28.7% more expensive than Scottish Power's price. And their night unit price is 35.7% more expensive, i.e., more than a third higher. This comparison is made using the cheapest tariffs from each provider recommended for my usage.

It would be true to say that E.ON's standing charge rate is the better of the two, but the standing charge is relatively inconsequential for me - it's a small percentage of the total electricity charges I pay.

Raxiel

footyguy wrote: »

So, for you, Eon are only 2% more than the cheapest tariff ... and you say there is an even cheaper Eon tariff available to you. Not bad ...but the costs are different for everyone, as usage (and probably region) will differ ... hence the advice is always to consult a comparison site to find the best deal

The slightly cheaper E.ON tariff is a bit of an oddity, only marginally cheaper than the other one but it adds a £30 per fuel exit charge and removes the ability to cancel the DD and pay on receipt of a bill.

I saw something similar on the comparison sites, they've all jumped up but Scottish Power is generaly the cheapest of the big 6 this year although I saw different numbers on my quote, that 32.88p/day standing charge makes it 40% more than v19 for me!

inexpert

If I were on my desktop computer rather than my phone, I would calculate the break even point at which the standing charge saving would outweigh the v21 unit cost increase. I can say without any calculation that I'd have to be using a lot less electricity than I am now. Off the the top of my head - very rough guess - I would have to cut my usage by about seven eighths.

For people with very low usage, though, the v21 charges might not be as punishing.

System

inexpert wrote: »

Yes, the MSE comparator and uSwitch both recommended Scottish Power given my usage and other details, hence my inclusion of their tariff rates in my post. Estimated saving: £431/year.

Cheers.

Beware of any 'savings' if you are on a fixed tariff with less than 12 months to run. The methodology used can generate savings when you are actually faced with an increase in the annual cost.

inexpert

Hengus wrote: »

Beware of any 'savings' if you are on a fixed tariff with less than 12 months to run. The methodology used can generate savings when you are actually faced with an increase in the annual cost.

The methodology I'm using is entering the tariff numbers into a calculator