Octopus Agile vs Tracker vs Flexible

adidas

I switched from Agile to Flexible as I was worried the previous price cap was 61p/kwh. I had been on Agile for about 3 weeks. I was concerned this was above the price cap of 34p/kwh. I now see that the price cap on Agile is 100p/kwh and I think it's the same for Tracker. I can see the rates on Agile/tracker are much lower at the moment, what are your thoughts about this all? Seems to be so confusing and difficult to make a decision with everything changing all the time.

Chrysalis

The good news is you can leave Agile penalty free, and they let you rejoin later, the only restriction is when you leave, you need to wait 30 days before you can rejoin.  So if you see it consistently low day to day it might be worth it but would have to keep an eye on it so as soon as trends change you jump right off it.

They do seem to set the cap awfully high, as them raising it doesnt reflect the current dailies, it suggests to me they dont want too many on this tariff.  The current value on the 35p agile is great, but when it was first released 35p was also a high cap.

Bear in mind even now in peak hours the cost shoots up, I dont know how high it goes as mine flat lines at 33.02p ( I dont check the community sites, just use the octopus graphs), but it can be as low as 10p one hour, then 3 hours later its at my cap.

bristolleedsfan

adidas said:

I switched from Agile to Flexible as I was worried the previous price cap was 61p/kwh. I had been on Agile for about 3 weeks. I was concerned this was above the price cap of 34p/kwh. I now see that the price cap on Agile is 100p/kwh and I think it's the same for Tracker. I can see the rates on Agile/tracker are much lower at the moment, what are your thoughts about this all? Seems to be so confusing and difficult to make a decision with everything changing all the time.

https://octopus.energy/blog/agile-pricing-explained/

Agile price Under 17p there is a floor of 0

Agile Price negative  then plunge happens

Agile Price above 17p gets the EPG discount but capped at £1/kWh after EPG discount applied. So new tariff cheaper when prices low, but can get higher too.



This is what the  agile pricing would be today if you were on the NEW agile tariff.

The first 17p above  0p has been deducted.

21-10-2022
Min: 4.1p (02:30)
Max: 17.2p (17:30)
Avg: 9.4p Avg
Excl Peak: 8.3p
Cheapest 4hrs: 4.3p
Peak 4pm-7pm: 17.0p

QrizB

The cap on Agile is meant to prevent crazy bills from rare market imbalances, like the time a few weeks ago when the spot price of electricity was briefly £9 a kWh. It's not meant to be a price that you pay for days on end.

If Agile looks like spending days or weeks at £1 a kWh customers can always switch to a different tariff, much as you did before.

[Deleted User]

adidas said:

I switched from Agile to Flexible as I was worried the previous price cap was 61p/kwh. I had been on Agile for about 3 weeks. I was concerned this was above the price cap of 34p/kwh. I now see that the price cap on Agile is 100p/kwh and I think it's the same for Tracker. I can see the rates on Agile/tracker are much lower at the moment, what are your thoughts about this all? Seems to be so confusing and difficult to make a decision with everything changing all the time.

Agile worked well when there was a range of prices during the day with the caveat that the period 4 to 7pm needed to be avoided to get overall daily costs low. Octopus shot itself in the foot with the 35p Cap at a time when other tariffs were more expensive. Based on recommendations on this site etc, consumers switched en masse without properly understanding why Agile was set up. It was designed to see how consumers would respond to demand shifting based on price volatility: a way of managing demand with available supply.

At the moment, Agile pricing looks to be attractive; however, with temperatures unseasonably high at the moment we have yet to see the effect of gas shortages on electricity prices once Winter really hits us. If you want price certainty, then go for the flexible tariff; if you are content to use energy when it is cheap then go for Agile.

https://www.energy-stats.uk/octopus-agile-merseyside-and-northern-wales/

Looking ahead, if we are facing electricity cuts this Winter then it is unlikely that Agile prices will stay low. 

k_man

New Agile certainly looks interesting.
Could save most users £1 - £2 per day, at current wholesale prices.

This could however then be wiped out in an extended period (so load shifting not possible) of 100p UR.

Anyone with local battery must be tempted.

The risk for anyone on current (or previous) Tracker or Agile though, is that while you can switch away with no penalty, you can't go back to the older tariffs.

ETA:
Thinking about it, come April and the end or change to EPG, it may not look quite so good!

Xbigman

These looks like tariff's that are specifically EPG compliant. Come April they will cease to exist and a new variant will appear, possibly we will go back to the old methodology.
For those who's current Agile tariff ends after April these are meaningless. For those who's current agile tariff ends before April, well I'd hate to be on this during the winter.

Darren

MWT

Also need to remember that these new variants are variable tariffs, so they have set the cap high to avoid the need to change it, but they will be able to change it at short notice if they need to.

I also wouldn't take the current gas prices as anything other than a short term anomaly, but it makes them attractive for sure, but at a time when most people are using very little gas, hence the price level...

bristolleedsfan

Being as someone can change back to flexible at any time, it is a no brainer for anyone with a smart meter that Octopus can get 30 minute readings from who is on flexible tariff to change to current agile version, each day that passes potentially reduces benefit of changing.

Rates shown for today include 17p reduction,

https://twitter.com/energystatsuk/status/1583474993308274688

Alnat1

Ermmmm, is it just me that is seeing very different prices on my Octopus Agile account today to those shown on Energystatsuk?

My 8.30-9.00 price (Yorkshire) online at Octopus is 28.56p but Energystatsuk says 10.71p. 11.00-11.30 is 1.89p ESUK but 19.74p on my Octopus app.

bristolleedsfan

Alnat1 said:

Ermmmm, is it just me that is seeing very different prices on my Octopus Agile account today to those shown on Energystatsuk?

My 8.30-9.00 price (Yorkshire) online at Octopus is 28.56p but Energystatsuk says 10.71p. 11.00-11.30 is 1.89p ESUK but 19.74p on my Octopus app.

Energystatsuk published figures that this thread relates to is new October Agile tariff which for some reason is able to reduce rates over 0pkWh by 17p kWh rate subject to floor of 0p kWh