Energy price increase

ibcinnes

Scottish Power sent me new gas tariff rates effective from April 1st. 

Did a calculation using my usage over past 12 months (12184kW).
Using this figure my bill for last 12 months would have been £580.59.
With the new tariff rates my forecast for the next 12 months would be £986.35. This represents an increase of almost 70%!

When I queried this with Scottish Power ( 3 times) all I received in reply was the usual reasons why prices are increasing.

Have written to my MP to see if she can get a better reply from Scottish Power. Failing that will lodge a complaint with Ombudsman

TheMilkmansDad

What are the tariff rates on the new rates from April 1st? If they are within the price cap then i don't understand what your issue is? the 70% is meaningless as I assume you are referring to the oft quoted 54% increase. That is an average. Unless you are average then your increase will not be 54% it'll either be higher or lower. You seem to have done the maths and are above average.

What's your complaint exactly?

MattMattMattUK

ibcinnes said:

Scottish Power sent me new gas tariff rates effective from April 1st. 

Did a calculation using my usage over past 12 months (12184kW).
Using this figure my bill for last 12 months would have been £580.59.
With the new tariff rates my forecast for the next 12 months would be £986.35. This represents an increase of almost 70%!

When I queried this with Scottish Power ( 3 times) all I received in reply was the usual reasons why prices are increasing.

Have written to my MP to see if she can get a better reply from Scottish Power. Failing that will lodge a complaint with Ombudsman

On what basis are you complaining, or attempting to go to the Ombudsman?

spot1034

More so the oft quoted 54% refers to a mix of gas and electricity, with the rise in gas higher than for electricity.  

Ultrasonic

ibcinnes said:

Have written to my MP to see if she can get a better reply from Scottish Power. Failing that will lodge a complaint with Ombudsman

I have no idea what you're writing to your MP or the Ombudsman* about. Prices are going up significantly for everybody and the 70% increase you're seeing is I'm afraid not at all unusual or unreasonable. Not being happy about it is not a grounds for formal complaint to the supplier.

*For info. for the future, in order for there to be any point contacting the ombudsman you need to have gone through the formal complaints procedure with your supplier first.

MWT

ibcinnes said:

Have written to my MP to see if she can get a better reply from Scottish Power. Failing that will lodge a complaint with Ombudsman

Save yourself and your MP some time and read the link...

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6337769/energy-prices-your-questions-answered-martins-latest-videos#latest

Ultrasonic

spot1034 said:

More so the oft quoted 54% refers to a mix of gas and electricity, with the rise in gas higher than for electricity.  

Hmmm, it's not that clear cut since the electricity standing charge has roughly doubled.

Edit: actually, for an electricity only household the standing charge will be a lower proportion of the total so you do make a strong point actually.

MattMattMattUK

Ultrasonic said:

spot1034 said:

More so the oft quoted 54% refers to a mix of gas and electricity, with the rise in gas higher than for electricity.  

Hmmm, it's not that clear cut since the electricity standing charge has roughly doubled.

Also many people seem to lack the ability to understand that the increase is in the SVR rates, not from whatever fixed deal they were on before to then transition to the new April capped SVR and that new fixes do not need to comply with the cap either. 

BooJewels

@ibcinnes - That sounds about right to me - for that kWh usage - using the new capped rate for my own north west region from April, I get to £970.18.  So that's within the right ballpark if you're in a different region and the calorific value I've used isn't spot on.  You're now just in the same boat as the rest of us.  As I'm coming to the end of what turned out to be a good 2 year fix, my own gas prices are increasing by 102%.  

MWT

ioealshk said:

Sorry, my fault - my case was about the electricity, not gas, but I wonder if your quote was also based on the "internal" campany kw cost?

There is no such thing as an 'internal' rate.

The difference is usually just that they are only showing you the fixed price tariffs, which are not limited by the cap.

BooJewels

@ioealshk said:

it just made no sense to me why would anyone sell you electricity on a fixed 1yr contract that's more expansive than the variable.

The whole premise of a fixed rate deal is to hedge your bets against what future prices will be during the term of the fix. As prices are strongly suggested to continue rising later this year, any fix offered now is likely to be higher than the energy company thinks prices might go in that time - so if you fixed now, you'd likely be paying post-October prices during the summer.  It might pay off, but it might well not.