Price Cap - Unit rates

RichardW9590

With the increase in fuels bills coming I'm looking into various fixing options and have used the calculator on this site.

However in the media and quite a bit on this site I hear about the typical bill the price cap will result in.

I think this is completely useless information and far to general.

I would like to know what the expected unit rates and standing charges are likely to be after the increase in October 22, Jan 23 and April 23.

I know these are likely to be estimates and different energy companies will do it in different ways but I think this is more useful than a very generic figure of typical use.

Can anyone help? 

MWT

The problem is that the rates and standing charge vary by region, by metering type and by payment method, so it isn't possible to just give you a simple answer...

Once we have the new cap information it will quickly be possible to see exactly what is applicable for your region, metering type and payment method...

The exception is always Economy 7, as the cap allows the suppliers to set the balance between day/night for themselves as long as they stay under the total allowed under the cap for a 58/42% (day/night) split of use.

pochase

The other problem is that the figures you are asking for are just predictions. While the figures for October SVT are expected to be very near to the cap that will announced on Friday, the January will be more of guesswork, with April getting even worse. Also this figures are still changing daily.

Just as an example the predicted cap for January has increased by £96 and for April by £233 since Friday if you can believe the consultant firm Auxilione.

Auxilione from this morning


Cornwall Insights - calculated from the predictions for gas and electricity cap figures on 06/08/2022



Auxilione has increased their predictions daily, while CI has not done anything for the last two weeks. So there is a 50% difference, whose guess is better?

Wb90

I am just weighing this up, our fix deal on normal prices comes to an end in October and have just been offered to fix for next year at

Elec
26.94 SC
65.45 / kWh

Gas
24.48 SC
19.42 / kWh

£100 exit fee on both.

I can’t afford to pay either so it doesn’t matter much to me what I end up on.

QrizB

Welcome to the forum.

RichardW9590 said:

I would like to know what the expected unit rates and standing charges are likely to be after the increase in October 22, Jan 23 and April 23.
...
Can anyone help? 

You've had some good replies already. For completeness here's my table based on Cornwall Insight's press release on the 9th of August (I've included the Q4 2023 forecast, which isn't in the table posted above):

Astria

Wb90 said:

I am just weighing this up, our fix deal on normal prices comes to an end in October and have just been offered to fix for next year at

Elec
26.94 SC
65.45 / kWh

Gas
24.48 SC
19.42 / kWh

£100 exit fee on both.

I can’t afford to pay either so it doesn’t matter much to me what I end up on.

That seems a pretty crappy fix to be honest, I wouldn't go for anything which has electric at over 59p/kWh or gas over 15p/kWh, but that's just my personal opinion based on my own estimates, predictions and guesswork.

pochase

Let's wait for Friday and see what becomes available after the cap is officially announced.

I agree that I would not go for it, but it seems all offers are moving to over 60p for electricity.

NannaH

I never thought I’d be ‘pleased’ to have fixed at 57p for electricity !    If it does go up to 90p,  the economy is well and truly f****d . 

superbigal

Anyone fixing takes a further risk.  Many analysts just do not believe the new caps will be allowed to happen.  So if they do get frozen and funded by some other mechanism, good luck getting out of your £200 exit plans etc.

QrizB

superbigal said:

Anyone fixing takes a further risk.

And anyone not fixing takes the opposite risk, that the SVT will rise higher than the fix.

It's a decision you have to make for yourself.

Astria

superbigal said:

Anyone fixing takes a further risk.  Many analysts just do not believe the new caps will be allowed to happen.  So if they do get frozen and funded by some other mechanism, good luck getting out of your £200 exit plans etc.

Unless of course you have a plan without an exit fee, such as the ones offered by Octopus, EON, Sainsbury's, etc. So we can leave them whenever we see fit for no cost.

I expect the October price cap to be less than some of the fixes currently available, but the January & April rise may well push it over, so they still could be worth having.