Fuel Gas & Electricity fight

[acetip]

Hi everyone,

Ok 2008 & here we go again, “Sorry to our customers but it’s out of our control we have to raise prices to ensure the supply”

Joke, do we really believe this?, are you convinced it’s needed?, who can afford this never ending greed?, they are not protecting supply just shareholders & we are paying for this & I can also say some will pay the ultimate price death due to the cold.

Does anyone know how we can build up a tariff chart that says the actual price per unit of gas or electricity so we can see who is the cheapest without switching or using the likes of Uswitch.

So let’s name & shame these suppliers.

Why not post your suppliers tariffs here.

My Supplier is Scottish Hydro
Gas tariff - Standard energy 2.150p each
Electricity tariff - Standard energy 9.05p each

Only use the “Standard Energy” reading

Regards & happy new year

Acetip

[Surfer01]

Why don't you log onto Money Saving Expert with Martin Lewis as he has some good tips for saving with changing suppliers. As I am in the business I know not to use Uswitch due to mark up. Depending on length of contract, i.e. 2 - 3 years they may get up to £250 or more in commission for each Change of Supplier that a customer does.

[acetip]

Thats not the idea, we can all do that but do you know how much each one charges PER STANDARD UNIT not how much they say you "Could" save.

Its a good site but I am attempting to get the TRUE cost per unit from all not just what they think is the best one.

So how much is NPower or Powergen or Brit Gas or Scottish Electricity & so on.

Build up a table so we can all relate the cost per unit.

How much is your unit cost???.

Acetip

[Dipply75]

I think this is a great idea. I have spent hours trying to find out what their actual 'per unit' charge was for my fight with them but everwhere only said that their databases used the latest tariff rates - no idea what they actually were!

Thing is, I have had 3 price changes in just on quarter before - up a big bit, down a wee bit down a wee bit. Next bill, up a bit more.

So I am wondering, how exactly do we know what we are meant to be paying month after month when they change willy nilly with no notice and no way of us knowing if they are right at all??

2p here and there doesn't seem much but over a full year that becomes a quite a few ££ more! They are to recalculate my bills but how can I check they are right? Wouldn't trust them with my dearly departed grannies old teeth to be honest and they have spent 5 years already trying to rip me off. Bill recalculated over 5 years with a few pence added on per unit some months would be HUNDREDS extra - mmmmmmmm?

Am gonna dig mine out and list them and see if anyones is different for the same time- whatd y think?

[acetip]

Some of the answers may well be on this website, it's packed with info but you need lots of time to read through.

Regards
Acetip

Quarterly Energy Prices - BERR

[ozzywizard]

Good idea in principal but will not work, what is the cheapest for one person can be the most expensive for another.
You need to take all the factors into concideration:
1 Method pf payment
2 were in the country do they live
3 Do you use both gas and electric, if not which one.
4 What is your method of payment.
5 do you wish to gamble on a capped price.
6 What is your useage.
7 do you use same supplier for both gas and electric.

To the above their are thousands of combinations so depending on your personnel circumstances depends were you can save money and with which company. Like capped price on x tarrif paying DD so get discount and duel fuel with same company to receive further discount etc.

[acetip]

Hi ozzywizard,

Yes you are right there are lots of reasons to why things are not the same for everyone but the one thing that is the same is the cost of gas or electricity.

Many of the suppliers do not generate electricity, neither do any of the gas suppliers, it's natural gas & yes it was said in the 60's it would mean cheap fuel for good old UK limited. Ya ya ha ha.

What I am saying is that gas is natural but of course these suppliers have to buy it from whoever, once it is paid for it's sent down the same pipe mixed with all the other suppliers so why does the cost change from one to another. Answer, greed, bad managment & lots of others as well.

Ok so what is this STANDARD RATE?, I can't find anything relating to the cost per unit.
I know things change if you pay by DD or if you pay by cheque or even groats or stones, we can deal with this later.

So lets build up a list yes a list giving just the STANDARD UNIT COST for Electricity & Gas no matter who supplies it.
From this we can now see the true costs & who gives the best deal without the likes of Uswitch or whoever switches.

Best regards

Acetip
My Supplier is Scottish Hydro
Gas tariff - Standard energy 2.150p each
Electricity tariff - Standard energy 9.05p each

Only use the “Standard Energy” reading

[ozzywizard]

I understand what you are saying and yes the concept is worth doing, but how can you overcome area ? what is a cheap company for me in manchester could be the most expensive rate in scotland. So if you make your chart and a company comes out on top somone in another area will be offered a totally differant tarrif from same company.

[acetip]

So what we are saying then is that Prices are rigged, so it will be cheaper to get your energy from your local supplier. Then why are we pointed to the likes of EDF by Uswitch who are not based in the UK along with others, remember Uswitch are free to you & me but get paid by the suppliers to get you to move.

So why not have a go at naming & shaming these energy suppliers, they are just taking the p out of mister avarage to pay the shareholders. See the link.

Best Regards
Acetip

BBC NEWS | Business | Energy price rises 'unjustified'

[Meter Man]

When standing charges were abolished, tariffs became un-necessarily complicated. So many units at this rate, the next so many at that. Nobody really knows how much they are paying.

As for profits, who knows how much they are making. Per household the profit is fairly small, probably no more that £20-£30 per year for electricity. Multiply that by several million, plus business users, and it's big bucks.

The small profit margins are the reason the suppliers don't like you ringing up and asking them to do something for you. For instance, if you want a new meter because the existing one is a bit old fashioned looking and doesn't match your curtains, they will be reluctant to change it as their meter operator will charge them £35-£50 to carry out the work. The supplier is then out of pocket on your account for at least a year. What they forget is that most customers never bother them and make them money!

[acetip]

Yes Standing charges are one of the reasons for the diff in price on the whole BUT WHAT IS YOUR "Standard Energy" price per unit gas & electric.

If you use lets say use 10KW per month the unit cost per KW is on your bill as it is on every bill this is the true cost, the others are just to throw you off the trail.

My Supplier is Scottish Hydro
Gas tariff - Standard energy 2.150p each
Electricity tariff - Standard energy 9.05p each

LOOK ON YOUR BILLS for this info

So what is every one's?, we can then see how much it costs. I understand all the reasons for the diff in price I've herd them all but if your supplier buys a unit at 5.5p per unit but then sells it for 9.05p per unit then that is profit.

Regards
Acetip

[Surfer01]

Please remember that "suppliers" only sell you the energy so it does not matter where you are located in the country. Any supplier can supply a household in Manchester, there is no restriction.

[Surfer01]

Your standing charges normally include the cost of the services of the meter operator, the data collector (meter reader) and data aggregator for starters. There is also a cost towards the maintenance of the service cable to the premises and the national grid. That is even before the supplier starts to add in their little bits and pieces like commission, advertising, overheads etc. Only then does the supplier start looking at making a profit and increasing the cost of the unit. If the any of the aforesaid organisations increase a cost this is then passed onto the supplier who in turn passes it onto the consumer. Basically there are too many organisations taking a cut along the way before it gets to the customer. In South Africa where i lived for awhile, the municipality purchased the power from the nation grid and then sold it onto the consumer. A lot simpler as a lot less people involved taking a cut.
You are being ripped of here where the supply of energy has becomes so complicated that very few suppliers fully understand the system. I would go so far as to say ther eare probably none that fully understand the process from A - Z. I have a fairly comprehensive knowledge of the overall process both from a supplier and industry view but there are areas that are still very grey.

[acetip]

Hi Surfer01,

If any supplier can supply any house any where in the UK then why do they charge for transporting it?, yes this is one of the reasons for hiking prices up, or so this is what they say.

As for South Africa it has problems keeping the lights on in some places, power cuts often, so the papers say.

Regards

Acetip

News | Africa - Reuters.com