What rates are you being offered by your provider at the moment?

goldygash

PK_London said:

I've recently fixed my energy but I think I'm going to want to kick myself if the government caps prices lower than my fix now

Don’t beat yourself up. You did what was right for you at the time. I fixed my parents in July with BG, which means they are currently paying £50 more per month than the Current SVT. If nothing is done and October cap stays, then it’s a win. If it gets frozen at current cap then depending on how long for I will switch them back to the SVT, no exit fees if staying with BG. Yes they will have paid a bit more, but at the time that peace of mind was worth more.

PK_London

Well, capping the entire wholesale price will do nothing to discourage consumption - the lack of supply is the reason prices are sky high. If Liz does nothing to discourage excess consumption WE WILL HAVE BLACKOUTS. People will die and businesses will move out the country.

I would personally prefer a solution where the first 5 units a day of 150 units a month of electricity was capped with the rest being on the market rate or at your fixed rate. Businesses could possibly have a higher cap.

We have to assume that this supply constraint will last at least 2yrs so throwing endless money at people will not do anything.

krakaboom

Eebus13 said:

I am once again furious, I have went ahead and researched energy companies and tariffs, organised my house to the best energy efficiency and agreed a fixed rate for 3 years which was what was told to the entire country only for the news to report that the government are going to freeze bills for 18 months. I took a fixed price which was a 135% increase on my old prices which would have worked out a lot lower than the end cap which was forecast by the government. I now believe that by being pro active I will be in  a worse position than most of the country. Once again the people with the foresight to do the work and get somethign in place are being left behind and from what I see in the newws I will be paying more than most people in the UK who didnt bother to do anything!

Can you check what the exit conditions are for the tariff? If it's anything like BG then there may not be any penalties for moving back to the standard variable tariff anyway. And if the numbers crunch in favour of you switching suppliers, you might think of paying the exit fees and moving anyway.

Mstty

PK_London said:

Well, capping the entire wholesale price will do nothing to discourage consumption - the lack of supply is the reason prices are sky high. If Liz does nothing to discourage excess consumption WE WILL HAVE BLACKOUTS. People will die and businesses will move out the country.

I would personally prefer a solution where the first 5 units a day of 150 units a month of electricity was capped with the rest being on the market rate or at your fixed rate. Businesses could possibly have a higher cap.

We have to assume that this supply constraint will last at least 2yrs so throwing endless money at people will not do anything.

People won't die, stop being dramatic.

Planned blackouts, if necessary, can be planned for.

However I do agree the options being muted do not lend themselves to people reducing energy consumption.

maisie_cat

PK_London said:

Well, capping the entire wholesale price will do nothing to discourage consumption - the lack of supply is the reason prices are sky high. If Liz does nothing to discourage excess consumption WE WILL HAVE BLACKOUTS. People will die and businesses will move out the country.

I would personally prefer a solution where the first 5 units a day of 150 units a month of electricity was capped with the rest being on the market rate or at your fixed rate. Businesses could possibly have a higher cap.

We have to assume that this supply constraint will last at least 2yrs so throwing endless money at people will not do anything.

Agreed and it wouldn't be difficult for the energy companies to programme in, simply apply as a discount. Capping anything is kicking the can down the road, but capping the entire increase is a big can.
The increase in rates has motivated consumers to look at their consumption and many of us have reduced usage. A basic supply should ensure a standard level of supply, but if you want a hot tub, gaming PC  or 30 minute showers you pay for it.

Csladeo

I fixed at the end of July. With no exit fees will I be able to join this new government rate which is coming in the next couple
of days? Otherwise will be very unfair. Thanks. 

BaffledBloke

muzzie2 said:

Thanks for your information.
Shell isn't releasing it's October 1st prices yet.   So I am guessing that 80% on top of  my current variable tariff is a rough idea of Shell's next rise.   That makes is around 48.72 per kwh.   Until the next rise on January 1st. 
Will check out EDF and Octopus by phone.   I wish that there was more choice, but I followed the advice not to switch.
I hate feeling so out of control with my energy costs.   I have reduced my electricity usage to the bare minimum and have even turned off the oven as there is a clock on it.  Candles in all rooms!

Hi. First post here so apologies if this has been covered elsewhere. I'll get the hang of it one day.

I've just had an email from Shell Energy saying they're upping my direct debit by an extra £120 on the next cycle, which is towards the end of this month.

I've had previous battles with them since my a/c was moved to them following the Pure Planet collapse: smart meter issues (ongoing), mistakes with billing "but if you pay the extra you'll build up credit" etc. (I suspect these are all familiar here.) So, before I go into battle with their call centre once more, is this just the Ofgen increase kicking in a little early, or a price rise prior to the price cap increase in October?

The latter would be surprising as I've been doing plenty of reducing usage since their last increase. 

Thanks for any help and opinions.

CRISPIANNE3

I fixed my rate back in June. I went on the BG fix until July 2023.  Looks like I made a bad call fixing my rate at 37p for electric and gas 11.19 per kw if the government freeze rates.

Doc_N

CRISPIANNE3 said:

I fixed my rate back in June. I went on the BG fix until July 2023.  Looks like I made a bad call fixing my rate at 37p for electric and gas 11.19 per kw if the government freeze rates.

You're probably OK with British Gas.  This is the relevant clause from their recent 'Exclusive Fixed Energy v25' and yours may well be the same:

"If you want to cancel or switch your tariff

You can cancel your tariff in the 14-day cooling off period. You don’t have to give us any notice if you want to switch to another supplier. If you switch to another energy supplier after the 14 day period and before the last 49 days of your contract we’ll charge you an exit fee of [£100] for electricity and [£100] for gas. We’ll collect exit fees before any other amounts you owe us, either from payments you make or from any credit balance you have with us. If you move to another tariff with us, there are no exit fees."

So if you simply switch to the standard BG tariff, you should be OK.

PK_London

Mstty said:

PK_London said:

Well, capping the entire wholesale price will do nothing to discourage consumption - the lack of supply is the reason prices are sky high. If Liz does nothing to discourage excess consumption WE WILL HAVE BLACKOUTS. People will die and businesses will move out the country.

I would personally prefer a solution where the first 5 units a day of 150 units a month of electricity was capped with the rest being on the market rate or at your fixed rate. Businesses could possibly have a higher cap.

We have to assume that this supply constraint will last at least 2yrs so throwing endless money at people will not do anything.

People won't die, stop being dramatic.

Planned blackouts, if necessary, can be planned for.

However I do agree the options being muted do not lend themselves to people reducing energy consumption.

Yes people will die.  People who are on oxygen concentrators, home dialysis machines, artificial ventilators. People who rely on stairlifts, bath hoists and adjustable beds. 

They will be forced to stay in hospitals and the NHS is already at breaking point. Black outs cannot be allowed to happen but they will if people who can curb their usage do not do so.