Standing charge rip off

[osdset]

My utility supplier Eon re introduced the standing charge along with an overall price hike at the beginning of the year, I viewed my latest bill online today and the standing charge is almost a quarter of the bill!

 

Eon supply both gas and electricity and despite my best efforts to cut down on usage my bill the for last quarter is £122.84 for electricity and £72.90 for gas, £47.48 of the total is the standing charge.

 

Money for nothing, if they must levy a standing charge then a nominal amount would be I suppose grudgingly acceptable but almost 25% of the bill? That's outrageous, like many I am on ESA WRAG and prices like this are forcing me into fuel poverty, £47.48 is the difference between managing to pay the bill (just) and struggling.

[marmaris30]

Hopefully not all the Big Six are going down this road, but npower have certainly announced the same type of change. I'll be switching very shortly...

 

In fairness though, most tariffs with no standing charge have a two-band unit rate instead, with the lower band being more expensive per unit. But I would rather have a choice than be told which tariff applies.

[osdset]

I think all the major suppliers are applying the standing charge now because of the push by OFGEM to simplify the billing process. I understand the standing charge was recovered within the two tier system but when you see just what percentage of the overall bill the standing charge represents it's staggering!

[Old Cogger]

Pay them for a meter so that they can take a meter reading to work out your charges? clever is it not, , or would they know what to charge you if there was no equipment to register usage, in normal circumstances a company would you would think supply the means at no cost!

[marmaris30]

It's not just the meter though. The fixed costs of energy supply also include all the cables and pipes, switches and valves, all of which would still be necessary if everybody used half as much energy.

 

The only thing I dislike is that, having chosen to pay for this via the unit rate, npower and the others now impose a standing charge, apparently in favour of people who can't do simple maths.

[osdset]

It seems that if I switched to Ebico I would save £16.57 based on the last quarter, on balance they are cheaper for my type of usage. So it's a switch then by the looks of it.

[Old Cogger]

Supply of product/services one would say is in the price of the goods supplied, otherwise a double payment being made for an item and its necessary supply, butI know what you mean on cables etc, but most were paid for once on completion of contract to build aand delivery decades ago. like Power stations in the late 50s we paid high price electricity bills compared to income as the capital needed to build them, once built the corporations maintain under their supply tarriffs to companies? there is a thought?

[osdset]

It's not just the meter though. The fixed costs of energy supply also include all the cables and pipes, switches and valves, all of which would still be necessary if everybody used half as much energy.

 

The only thing I dislike is that, having chosen to pay for this via the unit rate, npower and the others now impose a standing charge, apparently in favour of people who can't do simple maths.

 

Hmmm, all this infrastructure is already in place and has been for some considerable time, so apart from maintenance and repairs they are charging what amounts to rent for the cable/pipe, as far as I know only the utilities and BT do this, what if supermarkets charged a fixed fee for shopping regardless of the size of the basket?

[marmaris30]

Well it is true that much of the infrastructure was built years ago but it is also the case that much of it is old and needs to be replaced or upgraded, with maybe up to 100 billion to be spent over the next 30 years, or at least that's what I've read in the papers. Even more if we want more renewable energy, or for more cables to be buried.

 

They need to find the cash from somewhere and they'll be making sure that comes from you and me!

[E.ON Company Rep: Malc]

Hi guys

 

Sorry for the late reply; not been around much recently.

 

Just thought I would pop something on about our standing charges.

 

We introduced daily standing charges across all our tariffs in January. This isn't an additional charge but replaces the former two tier pricing structure we used previously. Although I do appreciate, those who use little or no energy will probably see an increase.

 

This change means there's now a fixed charge for the connection. Previously, this was covered by the first tier or primary rates.

 

The charge covers things like meter reading, maintenance and certain rental charges where equipment is owned by other operators. It also covers the cost of keeping properties connected to the network.

 

Network costs relate to maintaining the infrastructure. For instance, the upkeep of pipes, cables, pylons, overhead and underground lines, sub stations etc. This infrastructure is run by other companies and they charge us to use their services.

 

We have a duty of care to make sure everything is safe, too.

 

Hope this is of interest.

 

Malc

[MaxxPower]

Why not use some of those record £2.6bn profits to cover those costs instead?

[osdset]

Why not use some of those record £2.6bn profits to cover those costs instead?

 

Never gonna happen! Shareholders come before the customer, mind you I don't know how the shareholders will react when half the country is priced out of using gas and electricity.

[aliceinw]

It may be worth if you are a really really low user to ring your gas/electric supplier to see if they will give you a refund. I rung up Atlantic today only to query why I was on a standing charge when I'd signed for non standing charge rate - got the blurb about how it was out of their hands and it was to simplify their bills. However because I had zero use of their service between Dec and March as I was away they've agreed to refund it - shocked a bit and I'll not be totally convinced till I see my next bill that I've been given a credit - that said when I'm home and using gas/electric it does work out a bit cheaper to be on the standing charge rates.

[BornThisWay]

The E-on rep might as well not bother to be honest. There is absolutely no justification for their prices, nor the continual rise in same. They are just on a gravy train of making money since people cannot live without light and heat unfortunately.

 

The best thing about the summer if that these money grabbing companies and their - mainly foreign - shareholders cannot make as much money out of the poor and those on low income. I hope we have a long hot summer so that heat and light is used to a minimum and their vast obscene profits take a hit.

 

Roll on global warming if it puts companies like this out of business!

[debtangel]

Just been looking at changing mine. Do any of the Suppliers have deals without a standing charge? I live alone and don't use much energy. It winds me up that I should pay the same as large families!

[Old Cogger]

Atlantic if I remeber correctly

[aliceinw]

Atlantic have gone over to with standing charge - I was on their non standing charge rate as I tend go away a lot - was told that it it was out of their hands see post above but to be fair the girl I spoke to did offer a refund without prompting from me. I'm a pretty low user and from my conversation I don't think there are any out there now that offer non standing charge rates - I've found them fine unlike some other utility companies and their standing charge plus rate does work out better for me than being on the non standing charge rate when I'm home.

[Kasshah]

I had the same issue and decided to move to another supplier, I looked at many comparison website but the one that offered the cheapest tariffs was this website towerutility.co.uk that I had never heard of before, they helped me move to another supplier very quickly and easily.

[flexeh]

I hope we have a long hot summer so that heat and light is used to a minimum and their vast obscene profits take a hit.

 

Roll on global warming if it puts companies like this out of business!

 

 

hahah you got your wish love it