Flexible Octopus tariff - is my understanding correct?

MisnerSpace

Dear All,

Just want to check my understanding before making a bad decision in terms of changing tariff.

It's not at all clear from the tariff info but it states the following.

"Flexible Octopus prices follow wholesale costs and update every 3 months."

I found this website https://www.octopriceuk.app/tracker

Does this tariff mean that my energy usage for each day will be calculated by the daily unit and standard charge rate on that particular day?

Currently I am on the Octopus 12M Fixed tariff which ends in August.

Thanks for your help in advance.

QrizB

Flexible Octopus is Octopus's standard variable tariff.

The rate follows the Ofgem cap; the current rates came into effect at the start of April, and are expected to remain constant until the end of June. The Ofgem cap changes from the start of July, and Flexible Octopus will change then in response.

If you want a tariff that changes day-by-day (and it doesn't sound as though you do) you should be looking at Octopus Tracker or Octopus Agile.

Swipe

No. Flexible Octopus is the Standard variable Rate tarrif which is repriced according to the energy price cap every 3 months. I'm really not sure why different suppliers can't all use the same SVR name to avoid confusion. What you are referring to is a daily tracker tariff.

Newbie_John

Fixed - same price for a year

Flexible - changes every 3 months set by government

Tracker - changes daily based on wholesale prices, sunny and windy = cheap etc.

Agile - changes every 30 mins and you know the prices day in advance

MisnerSpace

Thanks QrizB, Swipe and Newbie_John, appeciate your help and advice, it is very much appreciated.

Quick question, how do I get the option for a Tracker or Agile tariff; I don't seem to have this option only the Flexible tariff.

QrizB

Quick question, how do I get the option for a Tracker or Agile tariff; I don't seem to have this option only the Flexible tariff.

These options don't appear in the usual "renew my tariff" places in the Octopus website or app. You have to jump through a couple of extra hoops. You can sign up via the tariff websites online:

https://octopus.energy/smart/tracker/

https://octopus.energy/smart/agile/

… or you can contact Octopus customer service and they'll walk you through it.

Note that you can be on Tracker for electricity and/or gas, but Agile is electricity-only.

Also note that the current Tracker tariff is more expensive than previously (they've changed the formula) but Agile is now cheaper than before.

https://octopus.energy/tracker-faqs/

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

There are active (and long - you might not want to read the entire history) forum threads for both Agile and Tracker where they get discussed regularly.

born_again

Quick question, how do I get the option for a Tracker or Agile tariff; I don't seem to have this option only the Flexible tariff

Of course these do rely on you having a smart meter 👍