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Why the alarmist headlines on getting a better deal?
So I log into my Energy Club account and the deals are laid out for comparison to our current deal, a BG Variable tariff. MSE calculates our monthly spend at £130. Even the best deals are barely worth the effort of switching, just to save literally a few pounds per month. Why the panic Martin, am I missing something? Is something coming down the line that necessitates sorting a better deal now?
Comments
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If "a few pounds a month" aren't worth 30 minutes of your time to switch, I think you might be on the wrong internet forum.
N. Hampshire, he/him. Octopus Intelligent Go elec & Tracker gas / Vodafone BB / iD mobile. Kirk Hill Co-op member.Ofgem cap table, Ofgem cap explainer. Economy 7 cap explainer. Gas vs E7 vs peak elec heating costs, Best kettle!
2.72kWp PV facing SSW installed Jan 2012. 11 x 247w panels, 3.6kw inverter. 35 MWh generated, long-term average 2.6 Os.6 -
Variable SVR tariffs - From July 1st gas unit rate increasing by 24%, electricity unit rate increasing by 5%.
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And the likelihood of a further 13% increase in October…
🎉 MORTGAGE FREE (First time!) 30/09/2016 🎉 And now we go again…New mortgage taken 01/09/23 🏡
Balance as at 01/09/23 = £115,000.00 Balance as at 31/12/23 = £112,000.00
Balance as at 31/08/24 = £105,400.00 Balance as at 31/12/24 = £102,500.00
£100k barrier broken 1/4/25
Balance as at 31/08/25 = £ 95,450.00. Balance as at 31/12/25 = £ 91,100.00
SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculatorshe/her1 -
I think the message is mainly aimed at the shockingly high (60-70%) number of people who do nothing and stay on the SVT. But as these people clearly take no interest in their energy accounts, they won't get the memo.
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Not to be really alarmist - but I suppose one fear is that the gas prices in the current £200 increased cap - represent spring / summer demand - not the far higher winter in UK / Europe.
And are not - when take out the 5% drop in TDCVs in Oct 23 - not too far off the then c£2000 cap level - the first time they had dropped below the £2500 EPG threshold after 9 months above it.
I hope we don't see a repeat - as I dont see the masses getting the £400 EBSS or the £2500 EPG discounts this time.
But even if Iran crisis ended tomorrow - there's a bit of well reported damage and probably international storage to be replaced before gas and oil supplies - and so their prices - might go back to normal.
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28% (27.7) and 6% (5.83) based on those average rates from Ofgem
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I reasonably assumed this was correct
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Yes to be fair I was lazily only doing unit rates not the total gas or electric inc SC components as well - so the total isnt going up that much.
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Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't these gas prices still a whole lot lower than Winter 2022/23?
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Yes, the Energy Price Guarantee capped gas at 10.3p/kWh. Electricity was 34p/kWh.
The MSE news page from 2022 is here:
N. Hampshire, he/him. Octopus Intelligent Go elec & Tracker gas / Vodafone BB / iD mobile. Kirk Hill Co-op member.Ofgem cap table, Ofgem cap explainer. Economy 7 cap explainer. Gas vs E7 vs peak elec heating costs, Best kettle!
2.72kWp PV facing SSW installed Jan 2012. 11 x 247w panels, 3.6kw inverter. 35 MWh generated, long-term average 2.6 Os.1
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