Peoples Energy: any experiences and/or knowledge of this supplier please?

[felstedrider]

Eon are offering me a new one year fix for 40% a month more than the current default tariff, so you can see where prices are going (I won't take the fix as I want another couple of months on the current price cap, then the heating is barely used due to warmer weather!).

What's unforgivable is that the daily standing charges have almost doubled and will be a huge percentage of the bill.  How can they justify that?  It's unrelated to the wholesale gas price.  And what supplier has the lowest standing charge?

Wholesale prices have fallen quite a bit recently as we get towards the end of the calculation window.   I think that suppliers will be able to undercut the cap come 1 Apr.   Whether they are willing to or not is a different matter.

The majority of supplier costs are variable so I’m not particularly sure why standing charges are rising.   Having no standing charge was very fashionable at one point but I think suppliers are less willing to offer this now.

[Jaded]

So, is it best to stay on a variable rate, or go for a fixed one? The foxed rates Octopus are offering me are double my current rate!

[felstedrider]

So, is it best to stay on a variable rate, or go for a fixed one? The foxed rates Octopus are offering me are double my current rate!

Between now and the end of March you will not be able to find a cheaper rate than a variable as they are all set at the cap.   Best to wait until April when the cap will increase again and then shop around.   Theoretically there should be some deals but :-

1. Existing suppliers have had an awful time this Winter and probably lost a tonne of cash.   How willing they are to go out with competitive tariffs is uncertain.
2. We have lost over 25 suppliers so there is is less competition and scrabbling round for new customers.   There are a couple of new entrant suppliers starting up so maybe they will have some deals.   Ofgem have increased their levels of checks before letting people enter the supply sector so they should be a bit safer.

[Jaded]

OK, thanks, we will wait and see…

[rogerzilla]

It's an ill wind etc

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/shell-again-boosts-dividend-buybacks-profits-soar-2022-02-03/

If you do a back of the envelope calculation, Shell's annual profits are around the total increase in bills for 25m households.

[felstedrider]

It's an ill wind etc

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/shell-again-boosts-dividend-buybacks-profits-soar-2022-02-03/

If you do a back of the envelope calculation, Shell's annual profits are around the total increase in bills for 25m households.

Playing devil's advocate for a moment, Shell's UK supply business lost £100m in their last set of accounts.

Their production business will have raked it in last year.   This is where talk of a windfall tax on 'energy companies' is useful but needs to detailed out a bit.   People making money last year are wholesale producers of energy provided they hadn't forward hedged, which is the opposite to the criticism of 'irresponsibly managed' supply businesses that hadn't hedged.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Tripped across this article on the Guardian earlier, had the devil's own job trying to find it again to post here.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/feb/01/new-super-tax-to-deter-energy-firm-owners-from-gas-profiteering

Another sign that the no limits free-market ideology of the Thatcher and Reagan era is gone. Except when ministers feel they'll benefit.

[andyoxon]

Price cap to increase by £693 from April
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/price-cap-increase-ps693-april

 

[rogerzilla]

54% is more than predicted.  That should be the end of the Tories, whether it's their fault or not.  Red wall voters aren't going to vote for the incumbent party when they're starving and freezing.

[Jaded]

Who got rid of the gas storage unit?

[rogerzilla]

Rishi's rushed giveaway means I will see no actual increase and, frankly, I don't need support to pay the bill (I just mildly resent it).

[Paul H]

Rishi's rushed giveaway means I will see no actual increase

Giveaway? The £200 looks like an interest free loan, repaid at £40 a year, smoke and mirrors. I didn't ask for it, I don't want it.
The £150 Council Tax discount is a blunt tool, there's already a system to discount CT for the less well off, the money would have been better used to extend that rather than buy votes. They're banking on people seeing the cash and forgetting the NI increase that it doesn't cover.

[giropaul]

I don’t understand. The oil price has been up and down, but I recently bought a tank full of heating oil for a lower price than about 9 months ago.
We are told that we have increased our use of renewable electricity sources. Have wind and sun gone up in price!
Meanwhile the CEO of EON takes home £1.1 million.

[felstedrider]

I don’t understand. The oil price has been up and down, but I recently bought a tank full of heating oil for a lower price than about 9 months ago.
We are told that we have increased our use of renewable electricity sources. Have wind and sun gone up in price!
Meanwhile the CEO of EON takes home £1.1 million.

Oil and gas prices are not really correlated.   Global gas prices have been at all time highs.

Despite the build out of renewables we still generate circa 50% of power from gas.   Gas goes up, power goes up.

[hatler]

This website is reet informative - https://grid.iamkate.com/

[robgul]

Perhaps I'm not understanding - but I can't find an answer to what I think is a simple question . . . the "price cap" is, I assume, based on a "typical consumer" using gas or electric and the cap determines the rates per Kwh for each fuel for that consumption.

So what is the per Kwh price that it's based on for gas and electric?   

All I can see is stuff about swingeing increases - not the basis of that statement.

We have a fixed deal - all I'm trying to find out is how our Kwh per fuel rates compare with the "cap basis" rates (and likewise standing charge rates)

[rafletcher]

Despite the build out of renewables we still generate circa 50% of power from gas.   Gas goes up, power goes up.

Also of course, gas powered generation is almost instant on at times of peak demand - and I'm not sure renewables will ever completely fill that niche.

[felstedrider]

Perhaps I'm not understanding - but I can't find an answer to what I think is a simple question . . . the "price cap" is, I assume, based on a "typical consumer" using gas or electric and the cap determines the rates per Kwh for each fuel for that consumption.

So what is the per Kwh price that it's based on for gas and electric?   

All I can see is stuff about swingeing increases - not the basis of that statement.

We have a fixed deal - all I'm trying to find out is how our Kwh per fuel rates compare with the "cap basis" rates (and likewise standing charge rates)

It's well tucked away.

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/price-cap-increase-ps693-april

"The values shown in the text above include VAT and are expressed for the current Typical Domestic Consumption Values (TDCV) of 2,900kWh of electricity, 12,000kWh of gas, and 4,200kWh of electricity for Economy 7. The price cap is a cap on a unit of gas and electricity, with standing charges taken into account. It is not a cap on customers’ overall energy bills, which will still rise or fall in line with their energy consumption. From 1 April the equivalent per unit level of the price cap to the nearest pence for a typical customer paying by direct debit will be 28p per kWh for electricity customers and 7p per kWh for gas customers"

[felstedrider]

This website is reet informative - https://grid.iamkate.com/

This is the official industry website but I suspect they both scrape from the same core data.

https://www.bmreports.com/bmrs/?q=eds/main

[robgul]

Perhaps I'm not understanding - but I can't find an answer to what I think is a simple question . . . the "price cap" is, I assume, based on a "typical consumer" using gas or electric and the cap determines the rates per Kwh for each fuel for that consumption.

So what is the per Kwh price that it's based on for gas and electric?   

All I can see is stuff about swingeing increases - not the basis of that statement.

We have a fixed deal - all I'm trying to find out is how our Kwh per fuel rates compare with the "cap basis" rates (and likewise standing charge rates)

It's well tucked away.

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/price-cap-increase-ps693-april

"The values shown in the text above include VAT and are expressed for the current Typical Domestic Consumption Values (TDCV) of 2,900kWh of electricity, 12,000kWh of gas, and 4,200kWh of electricity for Economy 7. The price cap is a cap on a unit of gas and electricity, with standing charges taken into account. It is not a cap on customers’ overall energy bills, which will still rise or fall in line with their energy consumption. From 1 April the equivalent per unit level of the price cap to the nearest pence for a typical customer paying by direct debit will be 28p per kWh for electricity customers and 7p per kWh for gas customers"

Thanks - as you say rather deviously hidden!   Our fixed rates to mid '23 are 22p electric and 6.3p gas so that looks like good news . . .  s/c seems to be a mysterius variable though, although a relatively small proportion of our expenditure so not as important as the consumption rate.

[rogerzilla]

I'm a light user and standing charges are horrific as a percentage of the bill - 1/4 for gas.  They increased the daily charge from 7p to 28p on the electricity side, too.  WTAF?

[Paul H]

Just been looking at the electricity tariff I'm on since the collapse of my supplier and being moved to British Gas.  Even before the cap increases the cost has gone up 60%, standing charge from 11.1p to 23.77p @ day and the unit cost from 13.1p to 20.32. For the same usage as this time last year, that's an increase from £31 to £49 a month.  I understand the reasons for the unit cost, but like others can't see any justification for increasing the standing charge.

[felstedrider]

Just been looking at the ‘rebate’ on energy bills.

Basically, it’s a loan.  Everyone will get a credit of £200 in October.  This will then be collected back over the following 5 years.  This smooths increased costs out over time rather than gifting anyone anything.  I’m on a fixed rate as there was a decent renewal offer that removed any exposure to the cap change, but I get the credit as well.  I would have expected it to only be paid to customers on SVR.  I’m not complaining but any payment is not designed to help people like me.  Probably policy implemented in a very short space of time.

The French have dealt with this very differently, forcing EDF to supply customers at a profitable but heavily discounted rate.

[felstedrider]

Also power cut this morning allowed me to discover that we are with an independent distributor rather than EPN.  Only had the place for a year.

[Paul H]

Just been looking at the ‘rebate’ on energy bills.

Basically, it’s a loan.  Everyone will get a credit of £200 in October.  This will then be collected back over the following 5 years.  This smooths increased costs out over time rather than gifting anyone anything.

The Chancellor is gambling that prices will fall, if they don't or continue rising, we'll all have a bigger increase to face next year when you have that to pay that plus £40.  It's like a payday loan, if you can't afford it this year, you'll be less likely to afford an increased amount next. The money would have been better targeted at those in need.