When EXACTLY, to the second, do the April caps kick in?

directfire

I assumed the upcoming cap hikes would apply to energy consumed from the beginning of 1 April 2022 (ie: the first "tick" after midnight of 31 March 2022).

I wrote to Octopus for confirmation; they replied: "I believe the new prices will go live on the 2nd of April".

I think they mean that bills produced (retrospectively, obviously) on or after 2nd April will apply the new tariffs to consumption from the start of 1 Apr .  

I couldn't find a definitive statement on Octopus, Ofgem or anywhere else. 

Please select:

A. "Yeah, you're right, tariffs change at the crack of dawn on 1 April."

B. "No, amazingly enough they only kick in after the last gasp of 1 April."

C. "No one really knows."

Thanks for any thoughts!

FYI: The new variable rates from Octopus will probably be:

Elec unit rate 28.46 p/kWh Elec standing charge 43.12 p/day

Gas unit rate 7.48 p/kWh Gas standing charge 27.22 p/day

MWT

'B' - as per their blog post...

https://octopus.energy/blog/why-we-are-increasing-energy-prices-for-some-customers/

razord

This is specific to Octopus who are waiting a day.

The current OFGEM price cap ends at 23:59:59 on 31st March 2022, and the new price cap starts 00:00:00 on 1st April 2022.

Rodders53

razord said:

This is specific to Octopus who are waiting a day.

The current OFGEM price cap ends at 11:59:59 on 31st March 2022, and the new price cap starts 12:00:00 on 1st April 2022.

errm  12 hour clock? 

I read that as just before mid-day on 31st and after noon on the 1st... so what happens in-between?

I expect that it's officially midnight on the date transition.
But Eon Next have always used the meter reading given on date X to bill up to the date X-1.
So meter reading on the 1st they bill for up to the last day of the previous month for me so I'll submit on the 1st as usual. 

I may get a (very) few units cheaper that way

razord

Rodders53 said:

razord said:

This is specific to Octopus who are waiting a day.

The current OFGEM price cap ends at 11:59:59 on 31st March 2022, and the new price cap starts 12:00:00 on 1st April 2022.

errm  12 hour clock? 

I read that as just before mid-day on 31st and after noon on the 1st... so what happens in-between?

I expect that it's officially midnight on the date transition.
But Eon Next have always used the meter reading given on date X to bill up to the date X-1.
So meter reading on the 1st they bill for up to the last day of the previous month for me so I'll submit on the 1st as usual. 

I may get a (very) few units cheaper that way

I edited my post 6 minutes before your reply but sure.. my bad.

The reality is, it depends on the time you give your reading on 31st or 1st... or the time they get the smart meter reading for that day.

Each provider will do it differently. Some might even estimate from a reading a few days either side of it... there is leeway!

directfire

Thanks to all who replied esp. MWT. (Wow! I'm so happy to have been wrong!)

I have set my system to implement the changes accordingly (02 Apr 2020 00:00.000).

directfire

EDIT: I have set my system to implement the changes accordingly (02 Apr 2022 00:00.000).

dogshome

Like many regulars on this forum I monitor the bills of friends & family, none of whom have Smart Meters.

No matter what day they usually give meter readings, I have asked them to give meter readings on the evening of 31st March

MWT

dogshome said:

Like many regulars on this forum I monitor the bills of friends & family, none of whom have Smart Meters.

No matter what day they usually give meter readings, I have asked them to give meter readings on the evening of 31st March

A lot of suppliers will take that as a reading for the period to the end of the 30th

Might want to check a bill or two and see what they have done with previous readings...

Rodders53

It's almost in the noise...  one day's leccy consumption. 
10 or so units for most 20 or so for high users.  x the circa 10p increase?

But a real MSE thing to do, of course.

Giving readings on the 31st AND 1st probably won't do any harm and repeat for the October cap change? 

Even with Smart meter(s) I'd be submitting a read for this price change ... and insist it was used by any supplier.

Phones4Chris

Rodders53 said:

It's almost in the noise...  one day's leccy consumption. 
10 or so units for most 20 or so for high users.  x the circa 10p increase?

But a real MSE thing to do, of course.

Giving readings on the 31st AND 1st probably won't do any harm and repeat for the October cap change? 

Even with Smart meter(s) I'd be submitting a read for this price change ... and insist it was used by any supplier.

Not for anyone with BG apparently, if you have a smart meter their web account or app won't allow manual readings !!
But other than that, certainly insist, that is precisely what I did in a recent spat with EDF when they had the damned cheek to use an estimated reading!! An estimated reading when you have a smart meter - you just couldn't make it up!