How to find "no standing charge" gas and electricity tariffs

br1anst0rm

We have a 'second home' (a flat in town) - originally occupied by now-deceased parents.  We visit it only rarely, and now under Covid restrictions, scarcely at all.

The dual fuel energy supply, which we have not changed since taking over the flat, is the EDF 'deemed' tariff (currently paid in response to quarterly bills).   Actual energy consumption is tiny, so most of the bill is simply the two standing charges, which are thus disproportionately high.  The obvious move is to switch to a zero standing charge tariff, as even higher unit-charges won't add up to much while usage is so low.  But EDF doesn't offer such a tariff;  and it is proving difficult to identify any other provider which does. 

Most provider and comparison websites don't even offer a filter option to find such tariffs.  I have seen references (including on MSE) to Eon and NPower's zero standing charges tariffs, but can't track down the details.  Utilita has a no-standing-charge offer, but a curious charging formula which is hard to understand.

Any advice on how to find a suitable tariff which has no (or very low) standing charges would be appreciated...

daveyjp

Use a comparison site and enter useage as 1kwh for gas and electricity.

A zero standing charge tariff will probably have different rates depending how much you use.  A set number of units will be very high, after that the units will be comparable to SC tariff.  Eg first 200 kwh of gas 20p kwh, remainder 2p kwh.

Neil_Jones

A lot of no standing charge tariff accounts are now minimum charge, so you may find it could be just as cheap just to leave it as it is.

Ectophile

Some energy companies did offer "no standing charge" tariffs.  The problem was that they got all the customers who use almost no energy, and they didn't make any money.  Eventually, they all either dropped those tariffs entirely, or switched to one with a minimum yearly charge.

macman

There aren't any. Well, there are, but since the s/c is simply replaced with a minimum charge, it amounts to the same thing.

Gerry1

https://www.logicor-energy.co.uk/

macman

Good find Gerry1. But the small print says that it's currently only available in Yorkshire and North East England, so may not be suitable for the OP?

Gerry1

Yes, for most people Logicor is probably only of academic interest at present.  But the website does say that this tariff is coming to other regions soon, and that they are determined to keep things simple by having the same price across the whole of the UK.

If you can get it, it's probably a no brainer at just 13.50p/kWh inc VAT.  They even offer Variable Direct Debit.  The only drawback seems to be that it's not available if you have an Economy Meter of 2 or more rates.

macman

I didn't think it was possible to offer a tariff that didn't have an E7 option within it, is this not part of the licensing process? Or are smaller suppliers excluded from such a provision?

br1anst0rm

macman said:

Good find Gerry1. But the small print says that it's currently only available in Yorkshire and North East England, so may not be suitable for the OP?

Thanks to both Gerry1 and macman.... in fact (though I didn't say so in my OP) this could be an option as our flat is in NE England.  So I'll see what sort of deal, and service, Logicor can offer.