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Octopus Tracker

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  • QrizB
    QrizB Posts: 18,271 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Fourth Anniversary Photogenic Name Dropper
    Xbigman said:
    Everyone should be aware that the EPG skewed the figures for Tracker and Agile over the last year to the point they were no brainers. That's not true any more. If it goes like last year there were spikes in the electric price up near 80p a kwh and several multi week periods between 40p and 50p a kwh. Likewise there were several periods where the gas price was around 20p a kwh for weeks at a time.
    I think you're mis-remembering.
    Here's the chart from Energy Stats for my region (Southern):
    These was one week in August when gas was over 20p/kWh.
    That same week, plus a few days either side, electricity was over 60p/kWh, plus one day in December.
    N. Hampshire, he/him. Octopus Intelligent Go elec & Tracker gas / Vodafone BB / iD mobile. Ripple Kirk Hill member.
    2.72kWp PV facing SSW installed Jan 2012. 11 x 247w panels, 3.6kw inverter. 34 MWh generated, long-term average 2.6 Os.
    Not exactly back from my break, but dipping in and out of the forum.
    Ofgem cap table, Ofgem cap explainer. Economy 7 cap explainer. Gas vs E7 vs peak elec heating costs, Best kettle!
  • mmmmikey
    mmmmikey Posts: 2,332 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Homepage Hero Name Dropper
    Yes, I'm with Darren @Xbigman on this. These tariffs are not for the faint hearted. Easy to look at the last 6 months data and convince yourself they're a good buy but it's the next 6 months data that matters, and we don't have that. If you decide to go for one of these tariffs, do you have a clear plan for how long to stay on it? If the price goes up suddenly are you going to be fretting and glued to your mobile waiting for the next day's price(s)? And if you decide to swap out to an alternative tariff are you the kind of person that will be beating themselves up and getting all stressed and upset if they suddenly get cheap again. And when will you make the switch back? These are tariffs for the financially astute and/or risk takers - nothing wrong with that but if that's not you then an SVR or fix might be better options.
  • sevenhills
    sevenhills Posts: 5,938 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    The trackers never come up in the results what you compare energy prices on here.
    I don't mind a variable tariff, but I just looked and their is a waiting list.
    From Octopus point of view, they cannot lose. The fixed deals also seem like a con, how can you get a new deal every twelve months and you are said to save £xx yet our bills increase.
  • Xbigman
    Xbigman Posts: 3,915 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    QrizB said:
    Xbigman said:
    Everyone should be aware that the EPG skewed the figures for Tracker and Agile over the last year to the point they were no brainers. That's not true any more. If it goes like last year there were spikes in the electric price up near 80p a kwh and several multi week periods between 40p and 50p a kwh. Likewise there were several periods where the gas price was around 20p a kwh for weeks at a time.
    I think you're mis-remembering.
    Here's the chart from Energy Stats for my region (Southern):
    These was one week in August when gas was over 20p/kWh.
    That same week, plus a few days either side, electricity was over 60p/kWh, plus one day in December.
    That's the chart I was looking at earlier and yes, the second spike in Gas prices looks more like 15p than 20p but there are clear spikes in electric prices up very close to 80p on 2 occasions and from the 4th week of July to the middle of October prices average well north of 40p, then again during the first 2 weeks of Dec (there was an unusual cold spell in early Dec last year then it turned milder and stayed like it).

    As I said on another thread. If a fixed electric tariff comes out around 26p to 28p in August I will probably abandon Agile and go for it.


    Darren

    Xbigman's guide to a happy life.

    Eat properly
    Sleep properly
    Save some money
  • QrizB
    QrizB Posts: 18,271 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Fourth Anniversary Photogenic Name Dropper
    The trackers never come up in the results what you compare energy prices on here.
    That's because the comparison sites aren't set up to handle them. They're too variable.
    I don't mind a variable tariff, but I just looked and their is a waiting list.
    Not any more, as far as I know.
    From Octopus point of view, they cannot lose.
    They lose if the price hits the cap. They lose if prices are high and you switch from Tracker to a capped variable tariff. They also could lose if they don't actually buy your power on the day-ahead market.
    The fixed deals also seem like a con, how can you get a new deal every twelve months and you are said to save £xx yet our bills increase.
    Fixed deals provide the customer with price stability. They are not primarily there to save you money.
    N. Hampshire, he/him. Octopus Intelligent Go elec & Tracker gas / Vodafone BB / iD mobile. Ripple Kirk Hill member.
    2.72kWp PV facing SSW installed Jan 2012. 11 x 247w panels, 3.6kw inverter. 34 MWh generated, long-term average 2.6 Os.
    Not exactly back from my break, but dipping in and out of the forum.
    Ofgem cap table, Ofgem cap explainer. Economy 7 cap explainer. Gas vs E7 vs peak elec heating costs, Best kettle!
  • JohnPo
    JohnPo Posts: 151 Forumite
    Third Anniversary 100 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 14 June 2023 at 11:07PM
    Actually - while wholesale prices are relatively low - both Tracker  / Agile Elec. are 'low risk'.   With Agile particularly, to make it work you need to load shift way from the 4pm to 7pm 'loaded' window but otherwise daily average prices for both are consistently below the SVT

    The option of jumping back penalty free to the SVT if prices start looking like averaging out about the price cap SVT, is the insurance plan on both tariffs!

    Tracker gas being a daily price is at the moment is definitely a no brainier, also as the daily / future prices can be factored into considerations as to whether to stay on the tariff - for those individuals that do the research again should be low risk of a nasty surprise.

  • bristolleedsfan
    bristolleedsfan Posts: 12,646 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    mmmmikey said:
     And if you decide to swap out to an alternative tariff are you the kind of person that will be beating themselves up and getting all stressed and upset if they suddenly get cheap again. And when will you make the switch back? 
    Octopus have now stated can take up to 2 weeks to change from tracker and cannot go back on tracker for 9 months.
  • Xbigman
    Xbigman Posts: 3,915 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    JohnPo said:
    Actually - while wholesale prices are relatively low - both Tracker  / Agile Elec. are 'low risk'.   With Agile particularly, to make it work you need to load shift way from the 4pm to 7pm 'loaded' window but otherwise daily average prices for both are consistently below the SVT

    The option of jumping back penalty free to the SVT if prices start looking like averaging out about the price cap SVT, is the insurance plan on both tariffs!

    Tracker gas being a daily price is at the moment is definitely a no brainier, also as the daily / future prices can be factored into considerations as to whether to stay on the tariff - for those individuals that do the research again should be low risk of a nasty surprise.

    This is the problem long term. Octopus are taking on all the risks if they let consumers bail when prices rise. For these type of tariffs to become mainstream Octopus would have to move the risk to the consumer, that would mean leaving penalties or restrictions that might include only allowing a switch to another company not another Octopus tariff. OFGEM might not like that idea much. The more I think about this the more I believe these tariff's are a dead end. In the meantime I'll take the savings on offer.

    Darren
    Xbigman's guide to a happy life.

    Eat properly
    Sleep properly
    Save some money
  • The more I think about this the more I believe these tariff's are a dead end. In the meantime I'll take the savings on offer.
    If it is a dead end then it is down a pretty long cul-de-sac. Tracker tariffs have been around for at least 5 years. In 2020, I was paying just over 1p/kWh for gas compared to a fixed tariff price of twice as much. Clearly, as said many times, Tracker is not a ‘switch to and forget’ tariff.  Customers have to pro-actively monitor trends and, at times, take a long term view.


  • masonic
    masonic Posts: 27,267 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    edited 15 June 2023 at 9:46AM
    The comment in the MSE news article on Tracker that "Octopus has said its rates will likely double during the winter period, when demand for energy is much higher" is confusing.
    There is no indication that the price cap is projected to rise to that level, but it surely would if wholesale prices rose significantly.
    Having now made equal savings for a month using Agile, I am in two minds about switching to Tracker now it has become an option earlier than anticipated.
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