Energy price rises

[paul04]

As we all know the price of Gas and Electric is going up,
I only pay £44 a month for both gas/electric, never use the gas in the summer months so always in credit.

I am with with npower and as you may have heard they are putting there prices up as well as all the rest,
my monthly bill would increase by around £4 a month.
I did check comparison sites but no real savings. So I phoned npower today to see what deal I could get.
Fixed until 2017 and no contract so can swap if I want, and a bonus, £1 cheaper each month, so only £43

What have you done, have you switched!

 

[Mile195]

I review prices yearly and switch if I can get a cashback offer on my work rewards website (which is a bit like Quidco).

I used to work for an energy company so I work out my gas and electricity usage kWh for kWh and work out exactly what my last bill would have been on another suppliers tariff taking into account standing charges or tiered tariffs accordingly. The comparison calculators are a bit pony really because most make all sorts of assumptions on "average use" which might not apply at all. The only way you can really see if there is a difference is working it out unit for unit.

I'll start looking again soon though. British Gas always used to be the benchmark - no-one used to put their prices up until BG had, although I notice SSE have led the way this time. There'll be no escaping it though. By December, all of them will have because that's what always happens.

 

[Stephen brown]

£44 a month.... I have dreams about bills like that

I used uswitch and swapped from British Gas to Scottish power, now on a fixed rate and saving £63 a month

 

[cosmicbike]

I only switched once, turned into a disaster as they forgot to bill us for a year despite being reminded, then just sent one huge bill. That and downright rude customer service.

Ever since, SSE for electric, BG for gas. Since they all put their prices up I see it making little difference changing every year. That, combined with a whole house of LED lighting, and not putting the heating on until the jumpers run out..

 

[compo]

I wonder what would happen if a large majority of consumers switched to one company. That one company would become very rich (or bankrupt because they couldn't cope with the extra workload) while the companies that are deserted would struggle to survive. Obviously it wont happen. This is England where we moan and groan then pay up like obedient sheep.

My little piddling against the wind protest for the past year has been to refuse to read my meter for BG. I said I would do it for £5 but they refused. Now they have to send a meter reader out every time. It wont apply an longer though as we have just switched to a capped dual fuel deal with a different supplier.

 

[Paul.G.]

Easy way to bring the energy companies to their knees is for everyone to cancel direct debit accounts, regardless of supplier, and wait until you are threatened with disconnection before finally paying the bill. The sheer amount of increased resources and disruption this would cause them would have them pleading for mercy in no time at all. Or as Compo says, every home in the UK switch to one supplier for one whole month, then all switch again to supplier number two. Repeat this three or four times and there will be no more "big-six" People power is an amazing game changer, just a pity we don't use it!!

 

[vernon]

£44 a month.... I have dreams about bills like that

I wish mine were as big as that then I wouldn't be freezin' my rocks off.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

My bill is over a £100 a month, I was looking too change but once they started to put prices up I thought I'll wait till things settle down again.

 

[Yellow Fang]

Get used to it. Energy is not going to get cheaper.

 

[Sandra6]

I attempted to do something about it today but British Gas won't let me log into my account and won't respond to my request to have my password changed.
tbh I'm not sure it really saves you anything in the long run, they'll all put their prices up eventually, and your fixed term will end and then what? A sudden increase in the monthly cost? I'd rather get used to it now.

 

[Linford]

I'd be interested to see what my combined bill will be was about £130 last time I looked....2 women in the house, and the youngest one insisting on 1/2 hour power showers every day....it's enough to turn me in to a misogynist

 

[Chris Norton]

I'm with first utility and they seem to be really good so far. As long as you do the meter readings in.

However, just paid the deposit for a wood burner cos I can get as much as I want to burn. My house does not get warm without the open fire's going regardless of how much bloody gas I burn on the central heating.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

[QUOTE 2728460, member: 9609"]Why wait till they have all made increases ?

I have just fixed with EDF (who havn't increased in this round yet) until March 15 - quite a good contract, I can get out without penalty anytime I choose, but they can't increase for 18 month (i think/hope )

The saving wasn't massive 1700 - 1600, but great to have it fixed. When EDF increase in the next week or two (they almost certainly will) there will be no skin of my nose.

This is the perfect time to jump and get a fixed tariff.[/quote]

I was thinking what happens if I move then they put the prices up, a fixed tariff sounds like a good idea.

 

[Maz]

£44 a month.... I have dreams about bills like that

You beat me to it. We share the same dream.

 

[RedRider]

What do people think of collective energy switch schemes, in particular the Big London Energy Switch?
People living in most London boroughs can sign up and then wait for the energy suppliers to vie for their collective custom. Presumably there's an incentive for the energy suppliers to offer their very best rates as they'll end up getting thousands of new customers. This from the FAQs...
What is an energy auction and how does it work?
Generally speaking the run-up to the auction and the auction itself goes as follows:

• All the qualifying suppliers in the UK are invited to register for participation in the auction several months before the auction.
• Where applicable the processes are explained during a meeting with the suppliers and agreements made in case the supplier wins the auction.
• The participating suppliers can notify their bid on the day of the auction before the end of the first round.
• The participating suppliers can then submit a better bid for the second round before a given time.
• This process is then repeated until nobody submits a lower bid in a next round. The winner of the last round automatically wins the auction.
• After this process is completed further agreements are made with the winning supplier and a contract is concluded. An important aspect of this contract is the required close collaboration between the winning supplier and iChoosr when processing the consumer contracts.