MSE News: Energy firms to trial ‘low or no Standing Charge’ tariffs from April – here’s what we know

MSE_Abby

Four energy suppliers will introduce 'low or no Standing Charge' tariffs on a trial basis this year, regulator Ofgem has confirmed to MoneySavingExpert.com (MSE). The firms taking part are British Gas, EDF, E.ON and Octopus. We don't have all the details yet, but here's what we know so far…

Read the full story:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2026/02/low-or-no-standing-charge-update/

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tfhnota

EDF have come up with some minimum usage figures,
You must use at least:
- 666 kWh of electricity a year and;
- 2,836 kWh of gas a year

But you are only going to get half the s/c off if the minimum £150 holds, so if you use a lot less than £160 of electric and £150 of gas then it is not much use. I could tweak my electric usage up a bit but not the gas so probably a waste of time. not that I am an EDF fan. Octopus have minimum usage but ain't doing anything until the summer and have not stated what they are.

What a waste of time, the government could have mandated that April £150 off the s/c rather than unit rate, and everyone would have got the same discount and been mildly happy. The level of crookedness and incompetence defies belief.

gpman

Hmmm… minimum usage requirements apply. (BG yet to declare. There may still be hope. BG used to offer a no restriction zero standing charge tariff about 5 years ago)

So it already rules out the people who would presumably benefit the most from low standing charges. Cut count now 1002. Ofgem may as well just drive the final death knell into this pilot scheme before it even starts, rather than wait 12months, consult on it's findings for however long it takes after that, and conclude as Martin anticipates they will with 'it wasn't worth it" even if they get enough people willing to take part in the first place.

Octopus haven't established what the minimum usage levels they will adopt for this pilot, but they do already have a business tariff with zero SC, but that requires a minimum usage of about 3500kWh pa.(Electricity)

bristolleedsfan

Minimum usage policy contradicts the whole point of encouraging consumers to reduce usage particularly gas.

c1995

As someone who only uses 1000 kWh of gas per year (well insulated newish flat), I thought a zero standing charge tariff was going to be perfect for me. Shame.

michaels

Standing Charges – which you pay just for the facility of having gas and electricity, even if you don't use any – currently make up over £300 of the average bill, penalising lower-use households and disincentivising people from cutting their energy usage.

How does this penalise lower use households - they still have a 24/7 supply don't they?

Why doesn't it disincentive cutting usage usage? Is the unit cost zero or is it not the case that the less you use, the less you pay?

EssexHebridean

The theory is that because no matter how much someone drops their use, there is still a big chunk of money they have to pay regardless, it disincentivises them from trying much harder to cut back. Not convinced I entirely agree with that standpoint though.

tfhnota

For gas, completely getting rid of the s/c for everyone and increasing the unit cost would be in line with their Green policies of narrowing the unit cost difference between gas and electric, making heat pump et al more attractive, so they can't even understand their own policies.

gpman

£150 off standing charges (presumably for dual fuel), but higher unit prices (as long as they are "reasonable")?

No point waiting any longer folks.

For those hoping to gain from this useless trial, just jump onto the EDF Simply Tracker Extra Jun27 today.

That guarantees £100 off standing charges (£50 off per fuel) and unit prices no higher than the price cap.

Apply via the MSE CEC and get a £50 bonus direct from EDF and hopefully the usual £20 cashback from MSE (assumes dual fuel, less for electric only)

So get £170 pa discount and unit prices no higher than the price cap. Tariff will change as the Price Cap changes. (predicted not to change much for the 12 months after the April reduction - the unknown risk is Q2 2027) £25 per fuel early exit fees apply.

(not quite an accurate comparison as the maturity date of the tracker is 30-Jun-2027, so the £70 needs to be spread over about 16m, rather than just 12m, so the equivalent to about £50 pa)

tfhnota

You have to compare that to, say, Fuse which have relatively low s/c and unit cost, locked in for the fix period, whereas with EDF you are the whim of further govn/ofgem increases in s/c and unit rates, which are rumoured to be stable for the next year but you never know what will happen with Ukraine or even the exchange rates. Good to have the EDF option, at least a step in the right direction.

Scot_39

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81900821#Comment_81900821

Yet still if you use less you pay less. So it does no such thing.

Whzt it might stop is 2nd homes and at these sort of levels above maybd some of those with solar battery arrays gaming the system even further - despite not paying an export standing charge when export excess and consume nothing.

Many just dont want to pay for the necessary infrastructure to supply their own individual need - whether 100kW or 1000kWh or 10000kWh per year.

If they wanted to reduce gas they should shift all net zero charges from the £100s on electricity to gas instead. Not a big vote winner though.

After all its largely current gas users who are going to be driving up the generstion demand and grid capacity needs - as c25m homes using median 11500 kWh of gas - are presumably in the end forced by net zero gods to switch to electric.