Octopus Tracker

ChaunceyGardiner

niktheguru said:

I'm not sure why people are assuming octopus will reduce the cap of tracker? Do we have any evidence to suggest this?
My feeling was they'd reduce the flexible tariff (or more accurately increase it compared to current rates, but not by as much as it was going to be before the government intervention) Its looking like gas will go to around the 10-11p/kwh mark i'm guessing.

Why would they feel obligated to reduce tracker or any fixed rates though? Surely theyd expect customers to see if they want to carry on or move to flexible with no exit fee.
The only reason i can think of for reducing the tracker rates/caps would be if they still want many people to stay on these tariffs for "data gathering" purposes.

Am i missing something that everyone isn't?

I assume, given that they've invested time and effort into it, that they'll want to keep it going; for data gathering, as you suggest, or because it fits their image as a cutting edge supplier. Once the version 1 customers come to the end of their 'contract', there'll be no one left on it if the current caps remain unchanged.

wakeupalarm

Tracker is a variable tariff with a cap, the government EPG refers to reductions on fixed rates similar to the reductions on SVR.
We don't know if Octopus will class the tracker cap as a fix and apply the reduction to it or not.  They could well leave it alone and give the option to move to the new EPG SVR.

SJMALBA

FWIW, Martin Lewis has said that in respect of EPG - 'Since the announcement, I have heard the discount that is being applied to the price-capped tariffs is likely to be applied to all tariffs, including fixes' - whether this comes to pass remains to be seen, but if not, as mentioned previously, it seems to disincentivise use of specialist/TOU tariffs, at the very time that they're supposed to be of growing importance.

MWT

wakeupalarm said:

We don't know if Octopus will class the tracker cap as a fix and apply the reduction to it or not.  They could well leave it alone and give the option to move to the new EPG SVR.

There is no lack of clarity from Octopus on what the Tracker tariff is...

It is not a fixed tariff, it is just another variable tariff from that point of view.

Similarly they don't have to 'give the option to move', there are no exit fees the customer can move any time they want.

Doesn't mean they won't change it though, but if they do it will be because they want to not because it is a fixed tariff...

SJMALBA

Tracker is a fixed-term, variable tariff, which Octopus have chosen to apply UR caps to - I think that about covers it (without opening the UR cap 'can of worms' again)?

wakeupalarm

wakeupalarm said:

Tracker is a variable tariff with a cap 

MWT said:

It is not a fixed tariff, it is just another variable tariff from that point of view.

There is no point in selective quoting if you are going to leave out the very first point and then proceed to make the same point.

niktheguru

The most helpful government factsheet is 
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/energy-bills-support/energy-bills-support-factsheet-8-september-2022

It states that the average unit price of SVT for electricity will be 34p/kwh and gas at 10.3p/kwh

It also states if you’re on a fixed tariff at a higher rate caused by recent energy price rises, your unit prices will be reduced by 17p/kWh for electricity and 4.2p/kWh for gas

Interesting. Again, very difficult to interpret what this will mean for track or for the smart go/go faster tariffs.

MWT

niktheguru said:

It states that the average unit price of SVT for electricity will be 34p/kwh and gas at 10.3p/kwh

It also states if you’re on a fixed tariff at a higher rate caused by recent energy price rises, your unit prices will be reduced by 17p/kWh for electricity and 4.2p/kWh for gas

Interesting. Again, very difficult to interpret what this will mean for track or for the smart go/go faster tariffs.

At face-value it means nothing for Tracker as it is not the SVT and is not a fixed tariff.

Potentially it means nothing for 'Go'/'Go Faster' either as once you apply the multi-rate tariff split standard the result will probably be below the new cap, but we still don't know if that reduction has a floor etc.

Spoonie_Turtle

Is anyone assuming anything?  The reason some of us are waiting to see if anything happens is because the voluntary caps Octopus have in place rose dramatically as a result of skyrocketing prices.  The wording on the website about fixes "at a higher rate caused by recent energy price rises" is very much in line with that, the spirit of it at least even though Tracker (and Agile) aren't fixes.

niktheguru said:

… Again, very difficult to interpret what this will mean for track or for the smart go/go faster tariffs.

Indeed.  Which is why we'll only find out when Octopus tell us.

Of course, if Octopus were to simply reduce the cap, there's still the gamble of whether prices come below it.  But if they reduce every unit price by 17p there's a decent chance at the moment (for those of us with the 55p cap anyway, not the 78p cap) that unit prices could then dip below the EPG 34p - we'd effectively be back to the gamble that Tracker was before when prices were floating around the April price cap mark.

[I am absolutely not speculating on what's likely to happen at all - no idea until they tell us.  Just musing on possibilities.]

Edit: I can see now how the musings above might look like assuming Octopus will do something to the tariff.  I'm not assuming they will, just again, considering possibilities.

niktheguru

The question I have is, what incentive does octopus have for continuing the tracker tariff?
With the EPG the government will be paying the energy companies the difference between the new variable rate and what the energy company "would have" charged the customer. So really, what incentive do octopus have for us the customer for keeping it going? Surely it would just make the whole thing more complicated, and produce more hassle for octopus.

Its not like wholesale prices are planning to go really low anytime soon.