News: Energy bills to rise by £700/yr for many | Chancellor unveils up to £350 households support

MattMattMattUK

wrf12345 said:

Wrong government but you could conceive of a situation where the the default buyer of gas and electric was the govn with prepayment meters linked to the national grid company, cutting out the myriad of energy providers who don't really do anything useful, saving 30-40 percent on the bill. Modern smart prepayment meters can be topped up online so no great hardship. There would be almost no overhead or cost for the govn as they could use existing personnel and offices.

Ofgem needs to make these prepayment meters cheaper than the credit meters as well as removing the standing charge from them, to reflect modern times and their potential to transform the industry for the consumer. That would be a first step. One reason the unit rate should be lower not higher, there are no debts to chase up as they are either in credit or reading zero (apart from a small amount of emergency credit).

You keep posting inaccurate information, the energy providers consumers deal with are not costing us 30-40%, their net margins are in the 2-3% range in normal times, they are currently losing money and will likely continue to do so until next year. The vast majority of thr cost we as consumers face is the wholesale price, network costs, social components and VAT.

Ofgem is not going to make "these prepayment meters cheaper" as energy is being sold below cost at the moment and prepayment meters cost more to administer on top. Defaulting customers is a very low cost, lower than the cost of prepayment meters, which is why DD tariffs are cheaper. 

MattMattMattUK

Ultrasonic said:

Sea_Shell said:

Sadly, for many the £200 credit could just end up settling any arrears on the account built up between now and October, so come then, they'll still have to find the full cost of next winter's energy. ☹️

They will still be £200 better off than they would have been though. Plus an extra £150 for most as well.

No one is going to be better off, it is an enforced loan, not a gift from the magic money tree. 

Astria

Sea_Shell said:

Does anyone know if there is an industry standard* surrounding how companies deal with persistent arrears (debit balance) on a DD credit account?

I had a £200 debt with green network energy because my DD was set too low. It got moved to EDF when they went bust, they kept the same DD amount and it wasn't until I switched from EDF that they their "Final bill" was simply the amount owing (£240 by then) in one DD.

Stevebrass

This is just a moan on my part really but her goes.

My supplier (with whom I had a two year fixed deal) folded. IF they had hedged this obligation, why could iii not have been "novated" on some way so I still get the benefit? Probable answer - too hard for OFGEM to organise.

My new supplier - Shell Energy - proudly claim that all the electricity is from renewables. So why they charge prices reflecting gas generated juice costs? Probable answer - because they can and the "100% renewable" claim although true has little impact on wholesale prices.

The SEG scheme for solar panel owners. Shell Energy offer less than 4p per kWh. Their tariff to supply is over 20p per kWh. Why the difference? Are my electrons different to theirs?

Rant over.

I'll sit down now.

QrizB

Stevebrass said:

My supplier (with whom I had a two year fixed deal) folded. IF they had hedged this obligation, why could iii not have been "novated" on some way so I still get the benefit? Probable answer - too hard for OFGEM to organise.

More likely your supplier hadn't hedged and were flying by the seat of their pants. (One notable exception is Zog, who were 100% hedged but their hedging wholesaler went bust.)

My new supplier - Shell Energy - proudly claim that all the electricity is from renewables. So why they charge prices reflecting gas generated juice costs? Probable answer - because they can and the "100% renewable" claim although true has little impact on wholesale prices.

Because the way the UK energy market is set up, the FF generator costs set the price.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/02/renewables-are-cheaper-than-ever-why-are-household-energy-bills-only-going-up/

The SEG scheme for solar panel owners. Shell Energy offer less than 4p per kWh. Their tariff to supply is over 20p per kWh. Why the difference? Are my electrons different to theirs?

Wholesale electricity prices make up less than half the current capped tariff.

Shell are relatively stingy. Other SEGs are available from other suppliers.

Octopus customers are paid 7.5p/kWh and have the option of "Outgoing Agile" which varies but has been regularly paying 15p/kWh all winter.

Ultrasonic

MattMattMattUK said:

No one is going to be better off, it is an enforced loan, not a gift from the magic money tree. 

I will be because it's an interest free loan that I can invest, albeit for peanuts. The more important idea though is for people to be better off now, to help with the immediate shock of the price jump. For some I can see this will be an appreciated benefit.

Edit: and do note the context of my post that you quoted.

dougsdir

I was put on the Octopus variable rate last October and just got in a quarterly bill
Is there any benefit in setting up a monthly direct debit whilst on this tariff or better just wait for the quarterly bills (whilst submitting monthly readings)?
I'll still put aside money each month.

Astria

dougsdir said:

I was put on the Octopus variable rate last October and just got in a quarterly bill
Is there any benefit in setting up a monthly direct debit whilst on this tariff or better just wait for the quarterly bills (whilst submitting monthly readings)?
I'll still put aside money each month.

Direct debit tariffs are typically cheaper, but not by much. Every little helps though! I kinda prefer having a bill every month, you can notice when things look "off" quicker.

MattMattMattUK

Astria said:

dougsdir said:

I was put on the Octopus variable rate last October and just got in a quarterly bill
Is there any benefit in setting up a monthly direct debit whilst on this tariff or better just wait for the quarterly bills (whilst submitting monthly readings)?
I'll still put aside money each month.

Direct debit tariffs are typically cheaper, but not by much. Every little helps though! I kinda prefer having a bill every month, you can notice when things look "off" quicker.

You can look at the figures online every month (or with a smart meter every day) if you want though, a monthly bill that you have to manually pay is of no benefit. 

Astria

MattMattMattUK said:

Astria said:

dougsdir said:

I was put on the Octopus variable rate last October and just got in a quarterly bill
Is there any benefit in setting up a monthly direct debit whilst on this tariff or better just wait for the quarterly bills (whilst submitting monthly readings)?
I'll still put aside money each month.

Direct debit tariffs are typically cheaper, but not by much. Every little helps though! I kinda prefer having a bill every month, you can notice when things look "off" quicker.

You can look at the figures online every month (or with a smart meter every day) if you want though, a monthly bill that you have to manually pay is of no benefit. 

Not sure what you trying to say here?

They asked for the benefit of a monthly direct debit. I told them the benefit.