How do I track Wholesale Gas & Electricity Prices for Octopus Energy?

bery_451

Hello,

New to Octopus Energy, have a few questions on them:

Which contract charts or futures charts or wholesale charts or whatever charts does Octopus Energy looks at when they decide to buy their wholesale Gas and Electricity on https://www.tradingview.com/ ?

The charts will help decide whether to stick on their Variable Tariff or move to a 1 year fixed tariff?

Is it possible to be on their Agile or Tracker Tariff by Octopus without a Smart Meter?

Lastly after switching to Octopus, I received an email from them saying my electricity meter has reached the end of its certification period and needs to be replaced with a smart meter. How does Octopus know its at the end of its certification period and is it illegal to have a meter still running after its certification period or what punishments/consequences does the energy customer face for having meter passed its certification date and these punishments/consequences by whom?
How do you extend the certification of meters?
Or is this just a scare tactic by energy companies to get customers onto smart meters?

Cheers,

MultiFuelBurner

No you can no longer be on tracker without a smart meter.

Which means you miss our on tomorrow price of less than 15p kWh for electricity and 3.5p kWh for gas (bargain !!!)

There are two large posts about Octopus Tracker and Agile you might want to use the search option on the forum to find them and read them.

As for meters and their expiration and replacement again use search you will find what you need.

Some reading 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/electricity-meter-certification

Search for your meter here

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/schedule-4-uk-nationally-approved-electricity-meters

Anyone that turns down the possibility of half price electricity and gas because they don't want a smart meter really shouldn't be on a money saving site imo.

QrizB

bery_451 said:

Which contract charts or futures charts or wholesale charts or whatever charts does Octopus Energy looks at when they decide to buy their wholesale Gas and Electricity on https://www.tradingview.com/ ?

None of those charts. Octopus's commercial contracts for Fixed or Flexible are not generally traded at spot prices.

The charts will help decide whether to stick on their Variable Tariff or move to a 1 year fixed tariff?

You'd be better off looking at Cornwall Insight's forecasts. They're not entirely reliable, but they're the best guide to future SVTs that the public have.

Is it possible to be on their Agile or Tracker Tariff by Octopus without a Smart Meter?

No.

The only tariff that Octopus offers to non-smart meter customers is Flexible, their SVT.

... what punishments/consequences does the energy customer face for having meter passed its certification date and these punishments/consequences by whom?

Ocopus can disconnect you if your meter is out of certification and you refuse a replacement.

See this post from earlier today, in particular paras (4) and (5):
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80327851/#Comment_80327851

bery_451

QrizB said:

You'd be better off looking at Cornwall Insight's forecasts. They're not entirely reliable, but they're the best guide to future SVTs that the public have.

Can you kindly share a link on where abouts on their website will I find this forecast and how accurate are their forecasts?

bristolleedsfan

QrizB said:

No.

The only tariff that Octopus offers to non-smart meter customers is Flexible, their SVT.

Octopus standard currently called loyal 12 month fixed rate tariff has no smart meter requirement in anyway shape or form.

[Deleted User]

bery_451 said:

QrizB said:

You'd be better off looking at Cornwall Insight's forecasts. They're not entirely reliable, but they're the best guide to future SVTs that the public have.

Can you kindly share a link on where abouts on their website will I find this forecast and how accurate are their forecasts?

https://www.cornwall-insight.com/predictions-and-insights-into-the-default-tariff-cap/

Remember most economic forecasts are more accurate in the short term. Also, the next cap is determined by looking mostly in the rear view mirror.

bery_451

[Deleted User] said:

bery_451 said:

QrizB said:

You'd be better off looking at Cornwall Insight's forecasts. They're not entirely reliable, but they're the best guide to future SVTs that the public have.

Can you kindly share a link on where abouts on their website will I find this forecast and how accurate are their forecasts?

https://www.cornwall-insight.com/predictions-and-insights-into-the-default-tariff-cap/

Remember most economic forecasts are more accurate in the short term. Also, the next cap is determined by looking mostly in the rear view mirror.

Thank you for the link, what do you mean looking in the rear view menu, determined by past cap prices?

Lastly on that link page which ones shall I ignore?

ArbitraryRandom

You might find this interesting - it's the historical agile pricing, so you can compare it to the sport price or any other pricing you wish and see how the trends compare and work out if you would have been better off on a fixed plan or this tariff based on your personal pattern of usage (select 'specific date' to access a calendar view): https://agile.octopushome.net/dashboard 

With regards meter certification - there's a central database which includes the model number of your meter and the date it was installed, and each type of meter has a fixed life expectancy based on testing done at the time of manufacture (you can look it up yourself to confirm when your specific meter expires).

The main issue is that your supplier is not permitted to bill you based on readings taken from an expired meter - so they will offer a convenient time for you to arrange a replacement. If you refuse, they will get a court order. If you still refuse they will attend with the police to remove their meter and disconnect your supply. At that point you will either have to do without or pay to have it reconnected. 

ArbitraryRandom

bery_451 said:

Dolor said:

bery_451 said:

QrizB said:

You'd be better off looking at Cornwall Insight's forecasts. They're not entirely reliable, but they're the best guide to future SVTs that the public have.

Can you kindly share a link on where abouts on their website will I find this forecast and how accurate are their forecasts?

https://www.cornwall-insight.com/predictions-and-insights-into-the-default-tariff-cap/

Remember most economic forecasts are more accurate in the short term. Also, the next cap is determined by looking mostly in the rear view mirror.

Thank you for the link, what do you mean looking in the rear view menu, determined by past cap prices?

Lastly on that link page which ones shall I ignore?

The cap is set based largely on the wholesale price from the previous 3 months* - not based on predictions about the next 3 months. So as the date of the announcement gets closer it becomes easier to predict (because it becomes a calculation rather than a prediction). 


*IIUC, there are some elements relating to future costs in the standing charge

[Deleted User]

ArbitraryRandom said:

bery_451 said:

Dolor said:

bery_451 said:

QrizB said:

You'd be better off looking at Cornwall Insight's forecasts. They're not entirely reliable, but they're the best guide to future SVTs that the public have.

Can you kindly share a link on where abouts on their website will I find this forecast and how accurate are their forecasts?

https://www.cornwall-insight.com/predictions-and-insights-into-the-default-tariff-cap/

Remember most economic forecasts are more accurate in the short term. Also, the next cap is determined by looking mostly in the rear view mirror.

Thank you for the link, what do you mean looking in the rear view menu, determined by past cap prices?

Lastly on that link page which ones shall I ignore?

The cap is set based largely on the wholesale price from the previous 3 months* - not based on predictions about the next 3 months. So as the date of the announcement gets closer it becomes easier to predict (because it becomes a calculation rather than a prediction). 


*IIUC, there are some elements relating to future costs in the standing charge

Following the failure of suppliers a couple of years ago, Ofgem also the ability to adjust the next Cap if prices rise unexpectedly during the Cap period which results in a supplier loss. This is known as Backwarding. That is, suppliers recover some of their lost profit resulting in a higher capped price than would be the case without it.

QrizB

bristolleedsfan said:

QrizB said:

No.

The only tariff that Octopus offers to non-smart meter customers is Flexible, their SVT.

Octopus standard currently called loyal 12 month fixed rate tariff has no smart meter requirement in anyway shape or form.

That is contrary to what has previously been reported on this forum.

See this thread:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6459755/octopus-ignoring-existing-customers-no-deals-unless-smart-meters-installed/p1

Nice for Octopus NOT to let customers know in ADVANCE that, when their current fixed deals expires, there are NO new fixed tariffs available (only the so-called FLEXIBLE) unless they have SMART meters installed.

According to the OP in that thread, Octopus require a smart meter for any tariff other than the SVT.