My electricity bill has just tripled: how about yours? Alternative suppliers?

[cupid_stunt]

Thanks so much for keeping us up to date with all the fascinating and unique details of your customer services journey.

 

[existentialist]

Thanks so much for keeping us up to date with all the fascinating and unique details of your customer services journey.

Urban is full of acts of public service like this. and I think it is lovely that you have seen fit to draw attention to it.

 

[teuchter]

Urban is full of acts of public service like this. and I think it is lovely that you have seen fit to draw attention to it.

It's just a shame that others interpreted my comment so negatively.

 

[cupid_stunt]

Boots on lads, teuchter's bullshit is getting deeper.

 

[gentlegreen]

Bit tetchy today, teuchter (((teuchter)))

He was getting a bit of grief on the n00b's thread ...

 

[StoneRoad]

Thanks so much for keeping us up to date with all the fascinating and unique details of your customer services journey.

please, sod off, "mate"

cupid_stunt 's information & tactics will, almost certainly, be useful to someone else.

 

[High Voltage]

I don't understand all of this hostility, I really don't

I'm looking forward to the next thrilling installment of cupid_stunt's monumental opus. A tale of the lone warrior battling against the multi headed bureaucracy of the hydraesque energy provider. Edge of the seat stuff, a veritable roller coaster of a ride and we're ALL sat in the front seat of the first car

Edit: added pomposity

 

[High Voltage]

Just a little reminder to inform your current electricity supplier of your meter reading either today or tomorrow this ensures that as little as possible / none of the electricity you use will be charged at an estimated usage rate and at thud new prices

Artificially boosting told reading is fraud however you maybe tempted to round up

If on a prepaid key (?) it maybe worth, if you can afford it, loading up your account to the max as prepaid electricity should be charged at the old rate until you have exhausted what has been preloaded - check with your provider

And whilst the temptation to stop paying by direct debit maybe great the extra cost in doing so may not be worth it

This guidance comes from Martin Lewes "The Money Saving Expert" check either youtube or his Web site for and clarification or confirmation

He also suggests not changing suppliers for the time being but again check TMSE our other sources you trust

 

[Leafster]

Just a little reminder to inform your current electricity supplier of your meter reading either today or tomorrow this ensures that as little as possible / none of the electricity you use will be charged at an estimated usage rate and at thud new prices

Artificially boosting told reading is fraud however you maybe tempted to round up

If on a prepaid key (?) it maybe worth, if you can afford it, loading up your account to the max as prepaid electricity should be charged at the old rate until you have exhausted what has been preloaded - check with your provider

And whilst the temptation to stop paying by direct debit maybe great the extra cost in doing so may not be worth it

This guidance comes from Martin Lewes "The Money Saving Expert" check either youtube or his Web site for and clarification or confirmation

He also suggests not changing suppliers for the time being but again check TMSE our other sources you trust

I'm wondering whether the suppliers systems might get overloaded with all the meter readings being sent tomorrow evening.

 

[alex_]

I'm wondering whether the suppliers systems might get overloaded with all the meter readings being sent tomorrow evening.

Its probably worth doing one today and one tomorrow then.

 

[High Voltage]

I've given then one reading already for this month, "around" the 24th I think, I'm going to give them another one today and I'll try to remember to give them a final reading when I go to bed on the 31st - the one that I've already given them appears on my account (Bulb), so the worst that will happen is I get gouged for 7 days, but hopefully, with the other readings, I can limit that opportunity for them even further

 

[cupid_stunt]

Well I'll do both my meter readings, and keep a note of them, because only the gas ones updates on the OVO site, due to the electricity one being so much lower than what they were given by SSE.

 

[StoneRoad]

Good point !
Will get onto that shortly.

 

[two sheds]

Some thoughts by MSE:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2022/03/-energy-firms-confirm-new-rates-under-the-new-price-cap---and-mo/

Energy suppliers have now confirmed their new prices under the upcoming 1 April price cap. Most biggies, including British Gas, E.on and Scottish Power, have hiked their standard tariffs to the maximum allowed under the cap. Octopus is the outlier, pricing an average £50/year under the cap for existing customers, based on typical use. The new rates will mean huge bill increases for millions – see how your provider is changing prices below.

The hikes are all down to the energy regulator Ofgem raising the price cap on standard and default tariffs by 54% (see our Price cap guide for full info). The cap will be £1,971/year for a typical household from Friday 1 April, due to record wholesale energy prices, which are those that firms pay. The new price cap unit rates are, on average:

<table giving rates>

The majority of households are now on these standard tariffs – you'll be on one if you've never switched, your fixed deal ended and you didn't switch again, or if your provider went bust and you were moved across to a new supplier.


While there's little you can do to avoid the hikes, as there are no cheap deals available to switch to, see Martin's 'Is it time to fix?' video explainer if you pay by direct debit, and his prepayment 'top-up trick' video if you prepay for your energy.

There's also notes on help for people struggling to pay bills.

 

[muscovyduck]

Is it worth switching to Octopus then?

 

[two sheds]

Not sure - it does say:

You can't switch to most of these deals – they're only for existing customers. There are no variable deals meaningfully cheaper than the price cap that you can switch to. And the cheapest fixed deal you can switch to on the open market is £3,200/year on typical use, which, at best guess, simply isn't worth it.


The key for many is what your existing firm will offer you. There have been a few short-lived deals recently from E.on and Octopus that people have grabbed where prices have been not substantially above the April price cap. And as prices are expected to rise substantially again in October, that is worth considering. See Martin's 'Is it time to fix?' video for full help.

but worth checking?

 

[magneze]

By those tables, it looks like everyone's charging the same. The wonders of market choice in action.

 

[Artaxerxes]

Random paranoia struck yesterday that this is the way we get punished for not commuting back to the office.

"Well they can afford it now" must surely have crossed Sunaks warped mind.

 

[magneze]

Sunak could afford to pay everyone's energy bill and still be a billionaire. Probably.

 

[Artaxerxes]

Sunak could afford to pay everyone's energy bill and still be a billionaire. Probably.

His wife could, he'd be able to give everyone a nice boost and still be a millionaire though.

 

[chandlerp]

Had my energy renewal through last night. Gas & Electric previously £1702 for the year gone up to £4258. Fucking cunts.

 

[JoeyBoy]

If on a prepaid key (?) it maybe worth, if you can afford it, loading up your account to the max as prepaid electricity should be charged at the old rate until you have exhausted what has been preloaded - check with your provider

And therein lies the one massive flaw in that plan

 

[High Voltage]

The reading I've taken today has successfully uploaded

 

[cybershot]

I'm wondering whether the suppliers systems might get overloaded with all the meter readings being sent tomorrow evening.

You're assuming the majority of the British public are competent. Which they disprove over and over again, so I don't expect any issues.

 

[hash tag]

Sorry to go off on a slight tangent...we have been told to expect a hike in our electricity bill for the coming year, but worse than that is the service charges. We thought there would be an increase in these charges next year, but an unofficial chat to one of the management committee says they expect a massive rise in charges for the coming year, in part due to the increase in leccy charges.

 

[Artaxerxes]

Sorry to go off on a slight tangent...we have been told to expect a hike in our electricity bill for the coming year, but worse than that is the service charges. We thought there would be an increase in these charges next year, but an unofficial chat to one of the management committee says they expect a massive rise in charges for the coming year, in part due to the increase in leccy charges.

This is the shit aspect of it, they are "rebalancing" the standing charges and use charges so you cnay even cut down on your usage without getting shafted.

 

[scifisam]

This is the shit aspect of it, they are "rebalancing" the standing charges and use charges so you cnay even cut down on your usage without getting shafted.

Different thing. I guess it does make sense that communal service charges will go up even more too if they include electricity in any form.

 

[hash tag]

Different thing. I guess it does make sense that communal service charges will go up even more too if they include electricity in any form.

Lifts, communal lighting, door entry etc.

 

[muscovyduck]

Errrr.... try and get evidence of submitting the meter reading and double check what's actually down in the system today or tomorrow. A couple of mine from British Gas have randomly disappeared into thin air

 

[moochedit]

Nope, that June 2021 SSE figure is about right, i.e. 4.4kWh per day, about the same as I used in the summer of 2020.
Their figures for Jul & Aug 2021 would have me on almost double at 8.06 per day.

Just checked the last 10 weeks and I've averaged 5.69kWh per day, just over 25% more per day compared to June 2021, about right for winter coming into spring.
The SSE figure for Dec 2021 would have me on 12.10 per day.
Because OVO inherited those estimates, they estimated my use from 22/12/21 - 21/3/22 @ 11.34 per day.

Also, checking bills right back to Jan 2020, I've spotted something off the scale for the SSE period 9/1 - 16/4/21 where they estimated I used a whopping 22.46 kWh per day.

SEE estimated meter reading for 16/4/21 was 14201, which is actually 39 higher than my meter reading today, at 14162.

Every SSE bill from Jan 2020 onwards are estimated, despite meter readers coming in at least 3 or 4 times in 2020 & 2021,

I am running out of s now!

I had an email from sse saying my smart meters hadn't worked since october and could i send them readings online. I was away from home for a few days so couldn't read them until today. Tried it earlier and found they had closed my sse accounts with estimated readings earlier today and transfered the balances to ovo. I logged into the new ovo account and they seem to think my smart meters are working fine and have adjusted the balances. So i think i will keep an eye on it and just talk to ovo later if i need to.