Gas provider estimating 27% increase in usage

wild666

What people should do, IMO, is use the last 12 months readings then estimate their DD increasing by 5% to 10% unless they are cutting back on usage, or prices increase. If they have an option to make one off payments then use that to keep the account in credit but by only as much as the next months bill will be assuming the DD is lower than the monthly bill.
My DD has a payment holiday but I expect I will have to increase it from £55, when it restarts, to around £80 per month.
If gas prices drop in April then I won't have to increase it as much but I don't expect them to fall in April.

sheramber

BG estimate my usage as the same as thi last year but project the increased cost of fuel and standing charge.

So for the same usage the cost increases

The Energy Support Bill Payment of £400 also finishes.

Bill568

The post is headed Gas supplier. This is my experience with OVO as Electricity supplier.

Moved from SSE to OVO as part of OVO’s takeover of SSE. SSE last bill gave my estimated annual usage as 1,462.00kWh, my personal projection £662.76. Upon registering with OVO website it states that my estimated annual usage is 1,607kWh and just received an e-mail that my estimated annual cost for the purpose of increasing my DD is £ 801.80.

That’s a 10% increase in kWh estimate, plus a 12.6% increase in tariff costs.

SSE expiring tariff is identical to my new OVO tarrif of £42.29p per day and 32.59p per kWh. My actual usage with OVO as per their first bill is 106kWh over 37 days, which equates 1,045kWh per annum.

So OVO have increased their annual estimate by 20%+ without any actual difference in price and with less actual usage.

MikeJXE

What I expect is my energy usage will go down as it already has but I also expect the price to go up to recover the loss of income by the providers 

[Deleted User]

MikeJXE said:

What I expect is my energy usage will go down as it already has but I also expect the price to go up to recover the loss of income by the providers 

How exactly does that work? The capped price is set by Ofgem. The factors that the Ofgem algorithm looks at in its deliberations are available for all to see. It includes a 2% supplier profit margin. If wholesale prices fall then so will the Ofgem capped price. If suppliers are able to purchase energy at a price lower than the cap, then we may see cheaper fixed tariffs with the cap again becoming a supplier’s most expensive tariff.

If, for example, 500,000 customers left BG today, BG couldn’t raise its prices above the cap to maintain its income. It would just make less overall profit.

That said, I accept that flawed estimates of future energy use can improve a supplier’s cashflow but this is not income. It is money that is credited to a consumer’s account.

EssexHebridean

MikeJXE said:

What I expect is my energy usage will go down as it already has but I also expect the price to go up to recover the loss of income by the providers 

In which case, you are expecting something which is not going to happen. Hopefully that will come as a pleasant surprise. 

badmemory

It has been suggested that a move to another supplier with better billing etc would be the best idea.  But how do you find one.  I have in the past been with both SP & BG & their billing sytems are chronic (I am being polite here).  I have now been stuck with BG due to the failure of my last supplier.  It seems to me that the only ones left ARE the ones with dodgy billing systems.  So where now?

Spoonie_Turtle

Octopus have a very responsive billing system.  It generates a bill every time you give a manual reading, if not then the default is monthly if you have smart meters.

I've found they revise my annual electricity estimate every time, downwards since taking measures to reduce consumption.

EssexHebridean

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Octopus have a very responsive billing system.  It generates a bill every time you give a manual reading, if not then the default is monthly if you have smart meters.

I've found they revise my annual electricity estimate every time, downwards since taking measures to reduce consumption.

I've been really impressed that they constantly tweak the usage estimates as they get to grips with your actual use! Very impressive! 

Raxiel

EssexHebridean said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Octopus have a very responsive billing system.  It generates a bill every time you give a manual reading, if not then the default is monthly if you have smart meters.

I've found they revise my annual electricity estimate every time, downwards since taking measures to reduce consumption.

I've been really impressed that they constantly tweak the usage estimates as they get to grips with your actual use! Very impressive! 

They are pretty good at it. The balance forecast is a little conservative but not excessively so. The recommended Direct Debit in the payments section does seem to lag a long way behind though.

I think the key difference between Octopus and other suppliers, is they let you set your own Direct Debit, even if it wouldn't cover your usage.

On the one hand it allows customers to set themselves up for bill shock if they set something silly, but it also means there's no motivation for Octopus to massage the figures in order to justify an inflated DD, because the customer can just say "no"