Clarification of Gas standing charge?

GaslessJoke

In early April we went all electric for our home. Mid April we had the Gas Meter removed from the side of the house. I believed at that time, as the house does not have access to a Gas supply that the standing charge would stop. I have now been told by my supplier that in order for this to happen we will need to have the gas capped off from the pavement . Looking up charges for this it may cost up to £1500.00, or to put it another way, approximately 12yrs of standing charges. We have around 14mts of gas pipe to the entry of the house. Can this possible be correct? I don`t want the gas but I`m not paying that sort of money to have it removed . Can any body clarify this?

QrizB

Welcome to the forum.

All previous cases like this have been that removal of the meter is enough to no longer be liable for the standing charge.

Who is your supplier?

Raise a complaint with your supplier. If they haven't sorted this out within eight weeks, refer your complaint to the Energy Ombudsman.

mta999

I had my gas meter removed and capped at the house (not the pavement) and the standing charge stopped immediately - that was with Octopus

The text below is from Google search but I thought it might help you

The exact process involves:

• The Meter Removal: Your energy supplier will send an engineer to physically remove the meter and permanently seal off (cap) the pipe right where the meter used to be. Once this is done, you will no longer be charged a daily standing charge or for gas usage.
• The Pavement/Street Pipe: The pipe that runs from the gas main in the street to your property remains live but inactive. Your regional Gas Network Operator (GNO) may visit months or even years later to check the pipe or formally disconnect it from the main network in the road, but this is done on their own timeline.

WiserMiser

Why did you choose to stop using gas? If you had gas central heating your running costs are likely to increase, perhaps significantly.

You may also find you've devalued your property, again perhaps significantly.

Netexporter

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82007567#Comment_82007567

I imagine the OP did the sensible thing and got a heat pump.

mta999

yes I stopped using gas when I installed an (electric) heat pump

WiserMiser

Out of interest, have you had a full year's worth of heat pump usage bills, was it cheaper than gas and were you always warm enough?

MWT

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82007640#Comment_82007640

A partial answer for you, we had a heat-pump installed in Feb this year and it has been both cheaper than gas every day since and plenty warm enough as well. We already had Solar PV, home battery and 2 x EV so it was the next logical step in the process.

The horror stories mostly come from poorly sized installs and people not understanding how to run them, but for balance I'd say it would be more risky to make it the first step as there are a lot of cost savings if you already have a home battery and access to an EV tariff…

FreeBear

https://heatpumpmonitor.org/ has a bunch of performance data. You can also drill down in individual entries to see what sort of property is being heated. No mention of solar panels or batteries though.

mta999

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82007640#Comment_82007640

yes cheaper and always warm enough. would recommend a heat pump

FreeBear

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82009048#Comment_82009048

Are you on a specific heat pump tariff ?