British Gas increase

baileybods2

Hi. I was with People's Energy and moved to BG where they were taking £132 a month till end June. I've just had my new figures. They want standard variable £2874 a year or they can fix me at £3627. We are a 3 bed house with 3 people in it. Gas usage is 9713kwh compared to the average 12000 but our electricity is 6633kwh compared to the average 3000, but I still think that is approx average and I don't understand why I'm not being quoted closer to the £1971 average price until October.  I had £700 credit which has just been used up by the Jan-now bill too. Should I stay on standard, go to fixed or argue with them? Any help gratefully received. Thanks. 

Robin9

........... but our electricity is 6633kwh compared to the average 3000, but I still think that is approx average ...........

You are certainly well above average and that comes with a big price tag of about £1000  a year.  You need to really dig down into that -   read those meters daily and keep a diary.  The usual suspects are hot water,  electric showers and fish tanks !

I assume those consumptions are based on your monthly readings and not the suppliers guesses. Read those meters today - how do they compare with those on BG's bills

QrizB

baileybods2 said:

Gas usage is 9713kwh compared to the average 12000 but our electricity is 6633kwh compared to the average 3000, but I still think that is approx average and I don't understand why I'm not being quoted closer to the £1971 average price until October.

On the current capped variable tariff, 9713kWh/yr gas and 6633kWh/yr electricity will cost around £2860/yr (there are some regional variations).

BG's estimate of £2874/yr seems to be bang on the money.

As Robin9 says, you need to look at where your electricity is going and see if you can cut it back to a more typical amount.

Gerry1

Your gas usage is too low and your electricity usage is far too high.  That suggests you're using electric heating somewhere.

Electric shower, towel rail, immersion heater left switched on, hot tub, fish tank, oil filled radiator / convector / fan heater, panel radiator, wired underfloor heating etc?

milgo

Whilst your total gas (9713) + electric (6633) usage totaling 16346 kWh is slightly ABOVE the "average" (15000) the reason for your £2874 (estimated) bill as opposed to the "average" £1971 bill is that you are using MORE electric and LESS gas than the "average"

Electricity is MORE expensive than gas!

IF you used only 15000 kWh of electric then you would be charged £4267 or £355 per month .  If you used only 15000 kWh of gas then you woud be charged £1122 or £93 per month.

(The above figures are "in the region of...and exclude standing charges)

The reason that your are not being quoted the "average" £1971 is because you are NOT average

Ultrasonic

baileybods2 said:

Gas usage is 9713kwh compared to the average 12000 but our electricity is 6633kwh compared to the average 3000, but I still think that is approx average

Just looking at those numbers, your gas use is about 75% of the notional 'average' household but your electricity use is more than double so overall your use is significantly higher. 

More information would help people here try to assist you to reduce your costs if that's what you're after. Focusing on why your electricity use is so high would be where to start...

[Deleted User]

I will say it because no one else has. Monthly DD payments are meaningless in the greater scheme of things as charges are based solely on the amount of energy used and the tariff. That said, I accept that DD monthly payments should be based on reasonable annual estimates.

The Ofgem Cap of £1971 is based on a clear set of assumptions from which a capped tariff emerges. Statements such as 'I still think that is approx average' falls at the first fence given that the cost of an extra kWh of electricity is c.4 times the cost of a kWh of gas. The only way to determine what is a fair DD is to calculate an annual cost based on predicted annual consumption for both energy types. Personally, I prefer to calculate my own annual estimates based on readings 12 months apart.

Arguing with the supplier will not change the annual cost of the energy supplied. It is also worth mentioning that suppliers work on a rolling 12 months when they estimate annual costs. Clearly, a fixed tariff is easy: it is 12 months at a certain tariff rate. The Ofgem-capped tariff is more of a challenge: twelve months from now would take in Cap changes in October 2022 and April 2023 ( possibly January 2023 if Ofgem moves to three-monthly Cap revisions). Fixed or variable is a decision that only you can make. Most fixed tariffs are now very expensive or carry a high exit fee.