Electricity costs going up but why is SEG staying so low?

Cranberryberry

Perhaps the simple answer to this question is 'greed' on behalf of the energy companies but given the massive growth in electricity prices driven by underlying gas costs, why isn't the SEG rate for domestic production going up?

Surely buying at a (maximum) of 5p/kWh and being able to 'sell' on at the wholesale price is netting the energy companies bucketloads across the country. If one provider shifted even a little (8p, say) then wouldn't there be a big shift in SEG sign ups, allowing that company to clean up.

Have I missed something here? SEG is a bit niche perhaps - and many lucky people still have feed in tariffs - and doesn't seem to be overseen by Ofgem.

Verdigris

Can you change SEG supplier? With FiT, you were stuck with the original one chosen, IIRC.

Reed_Richards

No, you can change your FIT supplier if you want to.

Cranberryberry

Verdigris said:

Can you change SEG supplier? With FiT, you were stuck with the original one chosen, IIRC.

Yes, it's supposedly pretty painless for SEG.

Thrugelmir

How much electricity is being generated at this time of the year? 

SEG price is fixed, irrespective of wholesale rates.  Works both ways. I doubt people would want to pay for putting electricity into the system. 

2nd_time_buyer

People are generally exporting such small amounts at this time of year. It makes very little difference. So they may not feel the need.

I am hoping come the summer, and a taming down of the energy market. It will start to function more as a competitive market.

michaels

Don't Octopus let you choose to get a market linked export rate as well as the fixed rate offering?

By its nature most solar generation takes place between 10 and 14 GMT in summer when historically demand is low and PV supply pushes prices down.  This may not happen next summer but are we sure that the annual average value of solar exports will be much more than 5p/unit?

(Personally I think paying the actual rate might help encourage for example east/west solar installs where even though the output may be 12% lower than S facing, because more of it occurs when prices are higher, it may actually be of more value and would make PV on many more roofs economically viable.)

Cranberryberry

2nd_time_buyer said:

People are generally exporting such small amounts at this time of year. It makes very little difference. So they may not feel the need.

I am hoping come the summer, and a taming down of the energy market. It will start to function more as a competitive market.

It's a small proportion of a big number though - there's around 3220 MW of small solar installed in the UK, so even December production will mean some export surely? 

I too hope a market may appear at some point...

2nd_time_buyer

Cranberryberry said:

2nd_time_buyer said:

People are generally exporting such small amounts at this time of year. It makes very little difference. So they may not feel the need.

I am hoping come the summer, and a taming down of the energy market. It will start to function more as a competitive market.

It's a small proportion of a big number though - there's around 3220 MW of small solar installed in the UK, so even December production will mean some export surely? 

I too hope a market may appear at some point...

... I am quietly confident it will. The government has invested heavily into offshore wind.

Over the next few years we are going to be very reliant on gas and then increasingly on the amount of puff in the wind.

Solar by nature is generating at times when people are up and doing things, so whilst it may not always be at the very peak times. It should never generate at off-peak times.

... That is one reason why I am not entirely convinced about batteries. As solar is already generating energy at useful times, it seems a bit daft to store it for slightly more peak times, when either you can attempt to shift the peak or store wind energy in the dead of night. I feel it is just under appreciated by the market at present.

Batteries without solar might make more sense where you are storing on Octopus Go at night. However, sticking energy into BEVs intrinsically makes more sensible because their capacity is so much more and they are generally just sitting on the driveway at off-peak periods.

Verdigris

As solar is already generating energy at useful times, it seems a bit daft to store it for slightly more peak times

Many homes are empty during the day. Solar's great for old gimmers, like me, who can use it as it is generating but a working family with kids at school will want more power in the evenings and early morning.

QrizB

Cranberryberry said:

Perhaps the simple answer to this question is 'greed' on behalf of the energy companies but given the massive growth in electricity prices driven by underlying gas costs, why isn't the SEG rate for domestic production going up?

Thyere is no minimum rate for SEG, it's for the supplier to decide. EDF is only paying 1.5p, for example. You take this into account when choosing yoursupplier.

As michaels said, Octopus Outgoing Agile tracks the wholesale rate and has been lucrative for the past 9 months or so. See details here:

https://www.energy-stats.uk/octopus-agile-outgoing-export/