Energy Prices

lauramariekelly1

My OVO energy bill expires on 3 Feb (Current Gas 15.51p /kWh/ Electricity 2.63p /kWh unit rates) and the cheapest fixed rate offered is Gas 25.58p /kWh /Electricity 6.59p /kWh) - Horrendous!!

Variable rate offered Gas 20.87p /kWh and Electricity 4.06 p/kWh unit rates.  So decided to go with Variable - Am I doing the right thing?

TheMilkmansDad

time will. but with limited figures above we can assume on 1st Apr the Variable will go up to at the very least Gas £29.22, Elec £5.68 (based on 40% increase)  - potentially as high as £43.83 Gas and £6.09 Elec (based on 50% - could very much be higher).

If you know your annual consumption (KwH not £) then you can do some rough maths to get a total annual cost.

QrizB

lauramariekelly1 said:

Variable rate offered Gas 20.87p /kWh and Electricity 4.06 p/kWh unit rates.  So decided to go with Variable - Am I doing the right thing?

Welcome to the forum. I think you'vre got your rates back to front; electricity should be the expensive one, gas the cheap one?

lauramariekelly1 said:

... the cheapest fixed rate offered is Gas 25.58p /kWh /Electricity 6.59p /kWh) - Horrendous!!

The variable rate is quite likely to be higher than this fixed rate when the cap is increased in April. You've definitely saved money over the next three months by picking the variable rate but you might be kicking yourself later. As the previous reply said, only time will tell.

lauramariekelly1

I've looked at the numbers based upon usage and the comparison is:

Variable monthly cost plus 40% - £230 per month
Best Fixed Price available (12 months) - £220 per month

So do you think a good strategy would be go onto variable at the proposed current rate £165 per month - then try and get a fixed pending government intervention and the availability of the best price fix in March?  I might just wait to see if anything happens by the end of Jan when the fixed price should still be available to me and decide then - Lord this is so complex.....

QrizB

Does the fixed rate you've been offered have any exit fees?

Your current fix expires on the 3rd of Feb, and we're not expecting Ofgem to announce the new variable cap until the 7th. If the fix has no exit fees (or only low fees) and if OVO will be applying the new fix from the 3rd (the end of your current one) you could agree to the fix, have it for four days then see what the new cap will be.

lauramariekelly1

There is an exit fee of £60.00

QrizB

lauramariekelly1 said:

There is an exit fee of £60.00

You'd potentially still save that vs. the variable tariff, but it's still your choice.

Out of curiosity I looked at what OVO would offer me as a new customer and it's 37.62p/kWh for electricity, 10.2p/kWh for gas!

lauramariekelly1

WOW! Thank you for checking, they've given me a good rate then! I'm going to have to make a decision very, very soon I think.