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

[felstedrider]

And it rakes more money from low use customers.   It seems a truly cynical and awful policy given the awareness of fuel poverty.

No-one is making money in the supply sector.   

[Polar Bear]

Perhaps not but by massively hiking the standing charge the effect is to disproportionately target low volume users who tend mainly to be poorer people.

[rogerzilla]

They expect people to economise on use, so this guarantees at least some of their pound of flesh.

Also: Ofgem is not fit for purpose.

[felstedrider]

Both the standing charge and the unit rate are set using the price cap methodology set by Ofgem.   Suppliers aren't able to cross subsidise.

I am not sure as to why the SC has risen so much and all the people I used to ask have gone bust.   I'll see if I can find out.

Some background where we see things at the moment.   Wholesale has risen further since the new cap was announced (something to do with a bit of political instability) which gives us 2 issues :-

1. No suppliers will be able to undercut the price cap come 1 Apr so anyone on SVR is stuck with it *.   This also means suppliers forced to supply at negative margins (again).
2. It is currently forecast that the cap will go up again 1 Oct.


* Further forward prices are lower so there might be some 2-3yr deals available that could look attractive.

[CAMRAMan]

One of my better decisions last June was to sign up to a 2-year fixed deal with Octopus. I suspect June 2023 will bring with it something of a shock!

[TimC]

One of my better decisions last June was to sign up to a 2-year fixed deal with Octopus. I suspect June 2023 will bring with it something of a shock!

Me too!

[felstedrider]

Both the standing charge and the unit rate are set using the price cap methodology set by Ofgem.   Suppliers aren't able to cross subsidise.

I am not sure as to why the SC has risen so much and all the people I used to ask have gone bust.   I'll see if I can find out.

Some background where we see things at the moment.   Wholesale has risen further since the new cap was announced (something to do with a bit of political instability) which gives us 2 issues :-

1. No suppliers will be able to undercut the price cap come 1 Apr so anyone on SVR is stuck with it *.   This also means suppliers forced to supply at negative margins (again).
2. It is currently forecast that the cap will go up again 1 Oct.


* Further forward prices are lower so there might be some 2-3yr deals available that could look attractive.

*Update*

I think the standing charge increase is because the mutualised costs of other supplier failures are recouped through fixed industry costs.   A couple of people have now told me that so I'm inclined to think its correct.

Also, the wholesale market is up getting on for 20% this morning.

[Polar Bear]

Sodding crappy sight.  I can't even see enough to successfully link fucking articles now.  I am off to sulk.    😥😥😥😥😥

[rogerzilla]

I think the standing charge increase is because the mutualised costs of other supplier failures are recouped through fixed industry costs.   

In the most regressive manner possible.  What else do you expect from the current kakistocracy?

[felstedrider]

I think the standing charge increase is because the mutualised costs of other supplier failures are recouped through fixed industry costs.   

In the most regressive manner possible.  What else do you expect from the current kakistocracy?

If I were to be fair (and I hate myself for it), it has always been this way.   It's just that no-one has noticed before as the number was never really all that big.

[nicknack]

We've just had an email from our gas and elec supplier (SSE) informing us that our annual bill will go up by £740 from 1st April. It's a pain but we're not going to be broke - unlike many, I suspect. 

[mrcharly-YHT]

I hate all of this.

I'd be financially well off; low housing costs, good salary; except that I have dependents in their 20s. Most of them are working, some working two jobs. Without providing them with subsidised housing, or cash, they'd be sinking.

The energy costs are simply terrifying. Unless there is a huge change, winter 2022 will see substantial numbers of people dying of hypothermia in the UK.

So in the period of my life when I should be looking to pay off mortgages, accumulate a nest egg, I need to look to maintaining a high income.

It's so depressing for the young people. Twenty times harder than when I was their age, utterly dispiriting.

Getting to the point where I resent the amount of tax I pay, because I'm not seeing any benefits for me or mine.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I've just received an Indeed notification of a job vacancy at Ovo. I thought they were one of the firms that had gone bust!

[felstedrider]

I've just received an Indeed notification of a job vacancy at Ovo. I thought they were one of the firms that had gone bust!

Still doing reasonably well in terms of growth (they took SSEs customers) and took a chunk of investment in.  2020s accounts don’t look pretty, though and a few of the management team walked not long afterwards.

I’m a customer and their platform is quite use friendly.

Big employer in Bristol.

[felstedrider]

Wholesale prices jumped on Thursday and then calmed.  By the close on Friday they were lower than Monday/Tuesday.  Still high, but no sustained madness.

Looking at the underlying data.  Gas transit through Ukraine increased at the end of the week and gas started to flow via Belarus again.

[FifeingEejit]

There's also the transmission issues - it isn't practical (or, if vague memory serves me, possible) to send power generated in Scotland to London to be used.

There are times when Grid need to bid off Scottish generation.   Not because the UK is long overall but because the transmission constraints mean it can't be moved over the border.   As Feanor points out there are physical reinforcements taking place that will avoid this issue in the future.   There is a lot of offshore wind that will hook onto the Scottish Grid.

I meant to say "not possible for technical reasons", not because it was along way away. 

I was thinking of domestic usage first exports second.
Quite a big supplier of electric here was killed off by the pricing regime.

Sent from my BKL-L09 using Tapatalk

[Tim Hall]

My fixed price deal with Octopus comes to an end soon.
Options are 12M fixed, standing charges as before, big hike in unit rates for both gas and electricity or standard flexible (double for electricity to  36.46p /kWh, three times for gas at 9.68p/kWh), or standard variable with electricity at 21.37p/kWh, gas 4.01p/kWh.

Presumably the standard variable will go up and down as wholesale prices fluctuate. 

[MikeFromLFE]

My fixed price deal with Octopus comes to an end soon.
Options are 12M fixed, standing charges as before, big hike in unit rates for both gas and electricity or standard flexible (double for electricity to  36.46p /kWh, three times for gas at 9.68p/kWh), or standard variable with electricity at 21.37p/kWh, gas 4.01p/kWh.

Presumably the standard variable will go up and down as wholesale prices fluctuate.

I'm in exactly the same situation.
As of today, I'm tempted to stick with the SVR. It's a gamble either way.
I prefer the stability of knowing what my monthly outgoings are, but there's a limit

[felstedrider]

My fixed price deal with Octopus comes to an end soon.
Options are 12M fixed, standing charges as before, big hike in unit rates for both gas and electricity or standard flexible (double for electricity to  36.46p /kWh, three times for gas at 9.68p/kWh), or standard variable with electricity at 21.37p/kWh, gas 4.01p/kWh.

Presumably the standard variable will go up and down as wholesale prices fluctuate.

I'm in exactly the same situation.
As of today, I'm tempted to stick with the SVR. It's a gamble either way.
I prefer the stability of knowing what my monthly outgoings are, but there's a limit

The SVR will be the cap.   It is fixed until the end of Sep.   If wholesale prices drop, and they have to drop a lot, then suppliers may reduce their SVR.  So variable rates can go down but not up.

The next cap period starts 1st Oct, but the calculation window is only just starting.

[Tim Hall]

My fixed price deal with Octopus comes to an end soon.
Options are 12M fixed, standing charges as before, big hike in unit rates for both gas and electricity or standard flexible (double for electricity to  36.46p /kWh, three times for gas at 9.68p/kWh), or standard variable with electricity at 21.37p/kWh, gas 4.01p/kWh.

Presumably the standard variable will go up and down as wholesale prices fluctuate.

I'm in exactly the same situation.
As of today, I'm tempted to stick with the SVR. It's a gamble either way.
I prefer the stability of knowing what my monthly outgoings are, but there's a limit

The SVR will be the cap.   It is fixed until the end of Sep.   If wholesale prices drop, and they have to drop a lot, then suppliers may reduce their SVR.  So variable rates can go down but not up.

The next cap period starts 1st Oct, but the calculation window is only just starting.

As the person with the inside track, would you recommend going for the 12 months fixed or SVR?  I've got until April to choose though.

[felstedrider]

My fixed price deal with Octopus comes to an end soon.
Options are 12M fixed, standing charges as before, big hike in unit rates for both gas and electricity or standard flexible (double for electricity to  36.46p /kWh, three times for gas at 9.68p/kWh), or standard variable with electricity at 21.37p/kWh, gas 4.01p/kWh.

Presumably the standard variable will go up and down as wholesale prices fluctuate.

I'm in exactly the same situation.
As of today, I'm tempted to stick with the SVR. It's a gamble either way.
I prefer the stability of knowing what my monthly outgoings are, but there's a limit

The SVR will be the cap.   It is fixed until the end of Sep.   If wholesale prices drop, and they have to drop a lot, then suppliers may reduce their SVR.  So variable rates can go down but not up.

The next cap period starts 1st Oct, but the calculation window is only just starting.

As the person with the inside track, would you recommend going for the 12 months fixed or SVR?  I've got until April to choose though.

I have a bit of an issue using the word 'recommend'.

Your costs have a natural cap until the end of Sep if you go with SVR so what you're really asking is how much could prices go up 1st Oct.    I would see how much higher the fix you are being offered is than the cap first.   You can then get a handle on how much the cap needs to go up 1st Oct for you to break even.

Current forecasts are for the cap to increase again 1st Oct but the unknown is what wholesale prices will do for the next few months as it is these assessments that will go into the new cap calculation.    I am not convinced that it will get that much worse than it is now but I have been known to be wrong.

Have you been offered a 2yr fix ?   Forward rates are much cheaper so it will take a lot of the immediate pain away.   Also check the exit fees as a percentage of your annual spend.   You can walk out of any deal part way through if prices come down significantly.

I managed to get a 3yr fix in Dec last year and, whilst I am currently paying more than the cap, I will be paying less from 1st April.

[Tim Hall]

Thanks for the info. Yes "recommend" was a poor choice of word on my part - your caution is noted and understood.

Octopus are only offering a 12 month fix as far as I can tell. Their 12M fixed offer based on my useage is almost twice thier SVR offer. (£132 per month vs £74)  I've just found this statement on their website:

If your fixed term is coming to an end, don't choose a new tariff or switch supplier.

Instead, let your supplier automatically move you to their default tariff, so your prices are protected by the Government's Energy Price Cap.

[felstedrider]

In the industrial/business a sector a lot of people are coming to the end of contracts and looking at pretty hefty increases on their renewals.   There is no cap on business supply tariffs.   What energy brokers seem to be doing is marketing 3 yr year deals as it softens the immediate pain.   I'm not sure how long suppliers will continue to offer these as, whilst profitable, it causes cashflow issues for the first year of the contract as they are buying wholesale above where it has been sold.   Ofgem, in general, do not GAF about the business supply sector.

[mrcharly-YHT]

The increased energy (particularly gas) prices are hitting on the islands already.

A much-loved roadside food vendor will not be opening this year. Gas price increases (they rely on bottled gas) mean that the business is simply unprofitable.

 

They will be really missed. Their site is on the border between Harris and Lewis and made a very welcome food stop on the way back home from Harris.

[felstedrider]

Trying not to stray too far into POBI….

At the moment Russia exports about $1bn a day of commodities.  There is not enough coal/oil/gas in the world to meet the shortfall in Europe if they turn the taps off.   Neither side can afford to play hardball so not really sure how this will go but it will get worse before it gets better.

Whilst the UK doesn’t import that much Russian gas, prices are intrinsically linked to Europe so we have seen big increases today as the risk increases.  We can import LNG from elsewhere into the 3 UK terminals but it trades at a premium at the moment.

On the supply side, Gazprom’s supply business has a 20% share of the business gas sector but also supplies services to a couple of independent suppliers.   It depends when the business customers entered into their contracts but there’s a strong chance that new rates will be higher.   Depends if these costs can be passed through or not.

My guidance (like that word) is changing a bit as I saw a forecast today that the price cap may increase by £600 pa in October.