What should I do?

RyanD33

I am with Octopus, and for the past year have been paying 16p per unit for my electricity (I only have electric at my house). My contract runs out on the 26th March, and Octopus have contacted me saying the cheapest fixed rate they can offer is 32p per unit, a scary 100 percent increase!!!! 
The variable tariff offered is currently 19p per unit, but I suspect this to rise dramatically in both April and October. 
What on earth would be the best decision?! 
Thanks, Ryan

QrizB

Welcome to the forum.

RyanD33 said:

I am with Octopus, and for the past year have been paying 16p per unit for my electricity (I only have electric at my house). My contract runs out on the 26th March, and Octopus have contacted me saying the cheapest fixed rate they can offer is 32p per unit, a scary 100 percent increase!!!! 
The variable tariff offered is currently 19p per unit, but I suspect this to rise dramatically in both April and October. 
What on earth would be the best decision?!

Yes, electricity prices are a lot higher now than they were 12 (or 24?) months ago when you took your old fixed-rate tariff.

You'll probably be best off taking the variable-rate tariff; it will increase to around 28p/kWh in April, and might (or might not) increase again in October. It would need to increase by 15% before it was more expensive than that 32p fix.

If you would prefer the certainty of a fix, that 32p offer isn't the worst I've seen but there might be cheaper ones with other suppliers.