MSE News: Fuel-save offers may cost you more
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Former_MSE_Helen
Posts: 2,382 Forumite
in Energy
"Some energy adverts promising large discounts and free energy are leaving consumers duped and often out of pocket..."
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I was quite surprised to discover that you have to have quite a high energy use to benefit from paying the standing charge and lower unit charge. My energy costs are well over £1200 per year and at present I am better off using the No Standing Charge option. I am somewhat surprised to hear the suggestion from Ofgem that the energy companies should provide tariffs that include a standing charge to provide lower overall costs for people on low budgets. As far as I can see it benefits the energy suppliers more than the consumers.0
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I was quite surprised to discover that you have to have quite a high energy use to benefit from paying the standing charge and lower unit charge. My energy costs are well over £1200 per year and at present I am better off using the No Standing Charge option. I am somewhat surprised to hear the suggestion from Ofgem that the energy companies should provide tariffs that include a standing charge to provide lower overall costs for people on low budgets. As far as I can see it benefits the energy suppliers more than the consumers.
If you have an annual energy cost of £1200 a year, it really doesn't make any difference if you pay an daily standing charge or the alternative 2 tier chaarging system.
If you think it does, tell us the two comparable tariffs (SC and NSC) and the respective costs (unit costs, daily standing charges, etc) to demonstrate what you claim.
Btw, the report says it is Which? (not Ofgem) that says:The consumer group is calling for the introduction of a single unit price to allow consumers to easily compare tariffs and new deals at a glance
I'm not sure I agree, as it is unlikley the daily standing charges will be the same amongst suppliers, so consumers will still be baffled as to whether to accept say supplier A with a DSC of 33p and a unit charge of 10.5p or supplier B with a DSC of 18p and a unit charge of 14.2p0 -
...so consumers will still be baffled as to whether to accept say supplier A with a DSC of 33p and a unit charge of 10.5p or supplier B with a DSC of 18p and a unit charge of 14.2p
I fear you may be right. And while that perhaps says something about energy companies' willingness (or lack of) to embrace clarity, if consumers really are baffled that also says something about how woefully we teach maths to our children. The arithmetic needed to compare tariffs such as you describe is not complicated at all. If bafflement is part of the problem here, we as a society must surely take some of the responsibility for having made ourselves so easy to baffle.
It is easy - and quite justified - to argue that energy companies should not be attempting to take advantage of consumers through confusion, but we have done ourselves no favours at all by having allowed ourselves to become susceptible to such attempts.0 -
If you have an annual energy cost of £1200 a year, it really doesn't make any difference if you pay an daily standing charge or the alternative 2 tier charging system.
I personally use very little gas in the summer months. The quarter right in middle of the summer is typically 1-2 units on the meter (ie around 20 kWhr). I can't be the only one with this kind of pattern.0 -
I personally use very little gas in the summer months. The quarter right in middle of the summer is typically 1-2 units on the meter (ie around 20 kWhr). I can't be the only one with this kind of pattern.
Even so, if you use £1200 worth of energy in a year I doubt a daily standing charge has much affect on the total cost.
(1 fuel's daily standing charge for 6 months would amount to about 2% of total cost, and that also assumes no sculpting that nPower once favoured on their 2 tier pricing)0 -
I personally use very little gas in the summer months. The quarter right in middle of the summer is typically 1-2 units on the meter (ie around 20 kWhr). I can't be the only one with this kind of pattern.
You're not. This year I used NO gas, and paid £0.00 for the spring, summer and autumn quarters.Eco Miser
Saving money for well over half a century0 -
I don't though.Even so, if you use £1200 worth of energy in a year I doubt a daily standing charge has much affect on the total cost.
Yes well that is the kind of sneaky behaviour that 'simplification' should be aimed at.(1 fuel's daily standing charge for 6 months would amount to about 2% of total cost, and that also assumes no sculpting that nPower once favoured on their 2 tier pricing)0 -
It is well known ofgem wants to go back to a standing charge. I believe the idea is for this to be set by ofgem and thr suppliers would compete on price per unit.
This still has drawbacks for some (notably empty properties) but does address some of the concerns expressed here.Mixed Martial Arts is the greatest sport known to mankind and anyone who says it is 'a bar room brawl' has never trained in it and has no idea what they are talking about.0
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