Electricity Suppliers - advice?

[JohnW2]

LS25 Garforth, W / N Yorks border..

Yep. I made up an LS25 postcode and it 'accepted' it (it only accepts 'valid postcodes') and I got the same figures as you reported.

Were I staying with E.ON (which I'm definitely not), I might have to move home

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnD]

I've never previously switched,

Then you are pretty well certain to be paying the highest possible amount.

you have identified yourself to them as a customer of high inertia who has no interest in saving money.

Rude people might say a mug.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Might it be worth getting an LPG tank installed? 68p per litre delivered.

 

[JohnW2]

Then you are pretty well certain to be paying the highest possible amount. ... you have identified yourself to them as a customer of high inertia who has no interest in saving money. Rude people might say a mug.

The figures I'm quoting are not personal to me - only to post-code areas. I get the same if I put in other postcodes in the area where reside people who E.ON have no reason to think "have no interest in saving money".

As for 'being a mug', I don't doubt that I could have saved some money, but for the last few years, the year-on-year increases in price with E.ON have been very modest, less than many other suppliers - but what would have been an ~28% increase for me next month is definitely 'taking the ****'!

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnD]

have you used postcodes outside the EON area?

 

[JohnW2]

Might it be worth getting an LPG tank installed? 68p per litre delivered.

I do have an LPG tank - and, as I recently reported, having threatened to 'switch' from Calor a year or so ago, I am currently paying less than half their current 'going rate' (which I suspect must be around 80p/litre by now). I have that fight again in December

Kind Regards, John

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I thought you had no LPG, because you have the E7 which usually means heating on E7 to make it worth while. Heating on E7, so no need for LPG. Or perhaps LPG for cooking, E7 for heating - might it not be worth using LPG for heating?

I have no idea how the costs pan out...

 

[JohnW2]

have you used postcodes outside the EON area?

Of course - see above. Harry's and Sheffield both give the 'low' prices he's paying. Cornwall is slighly more expensive, but much cheaper than here.

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnW2]

I thought you had no LPG, because you have the E7 which usually means heating on E7 to make it worth while.

No, as I'm always saying, whilst it is generally true that E7 is only worthwhile if one has electrical heating (storage heaters), it has remained worthwhile for me even without them. Just two or so years ago, it was very worthwhile, with a day:night cost ratio of about 2.5:1, but that has changed rapidly, and it won't have to shift much more before it ceases to be to my benefit (I'm currently saving about £150 per year by having E7).

Heating on E7, so no need for LPG. Or perhaps LPG for cooking, E7 for heating - might it not be worth using LPG for heating?

I use LPG for space heating and cooking, and E7 primarily for water heating (and the usual bits and pieces). However, over the years, I've kept my eyes on the situation - it's a very large house, and hence one consequential consideration is the large capital cost that would be involved in any major change.

In any event, seeing what has been happening with night-time E7 electricity prices (and promising to get far worse if/when EVs 'take off'!), I think it would be a very brave or foolish person who would be thinking of changing to night storage heaters at this point in time!

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnW2]

No, as I'm always saying, whilst it is generally true that E7 is only worthwhile if one has electrical heating (storage heaters), it has remained worthwhile for me even without them. Just two or so years ago, it was very worthwhile, with a day:night cost ratio of about 2.5:1, but that has changed rapidly, and it won't have to shift much more before it ceases to be to my benefit (I'm currently saving about £150 per year by having E7).

I think I posted this fairly recently (probably in this thread), but here it is again! Up until April of last year, my saving by having E7 had been £250+ per year for years, but then the tariffs (all companies) started changing to make E7 much less financially beneficial...

Kind Regards, John

 

[ban-all-sheds]

As I have no interest in joining in discussions of the legalities of direct debits I've skipped several pages.

Any advance on Bulb or Together Energy?

And am I really now reading that with the same company, and the same tariff, and the same use profile, prices vary according to where you live?

If so, does anybody know what happens if you get a cheaper quote by pretending you live somewhere different, and then you sign up for it and your real location becomes apparent?

 

[JohnW2]

As I have no interest in joining in discussions of the legalities of direct debits I've skipped several pages.

That was actually a brief interlude (not startred by me!). There is a fair bit of reasonably on-topic stuff after that!

Any advance on Bulb or Together Energy?

To avoid wasting any further time, I've gone with ESB. Not the cheapest, but it means that (for unchanging usage) I'll be paying less for the next two years than I am paying at present - and that's good enough for me (far better than +28% next month if I stayed with E.ON!).

And am I really now reading that with the same company, and the same tariff, and the same use profile, prices vary according to where you live?

Yep, and quite a marked difference. ... for me the difference (for one particular E.ON tariff) between 18.123 p/kWh for me (or for anyone anywhere near me) and 14.396 p/kWh for anyone north of ~Birmingham. It has been suggested that that's because I am 'in E.on territory', but I haven't a clue as to whether that is thae actual reason.

If so, does anybody know what happens if you get a cheaper quote by pretending you live somewhere different, and then you sign up for it and your real location becomes apparent?

I doubt that could really happen. The first part of 'applying to switch' involves (at least for me) 'getting a quote', and that requires that one provides one's address. If one then 'accepts that quote', it sets up an account for supply of electricity to the address one has provided, and I presume that if one subsequently announced an error in the address one had provided, they would correspondingly 'update their quote'!

Strangely, although ESB say that the switching process is now 'in progress' (and "may takje up to 17 days" - although people here have said that it can take as long as 5 weeks), they have not at any point asked me about my present supplier - which they presumably need to know to engineer the 'switch'. I've just asked them about this (no reply yet), but I wonder if there is some 'register' which enables them to discover my present supplier just from my address?

 

[SimonH2]

... they have not at any point asked me about my present supplier - which they presumably need to know to engineer the 'switch'.

They can look it up.
Part of the "web of connected enterprises" that forms the electrickery supply business, there's a big database that links (I assume all of) meters, meter point numbers, addresses, who is supplying an individual meter point, and who owns the meter(s). Note that a meter point number may reference more than one meter.
At church we had a bit of confusion and some people were under the impression that we weren't getting bills for one of the meters. Apparently the supplier we thought was supplying it disclaimed any knowledge of it when asked - they admitted to supplying the church hall, but not the church. I phoned my own supplier armed with the meter serial number, and they were able to tell me who was supplying it - the very one that claimed to know nothing about it

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

On the dd front, I have never had a supplier change my dd, they have only ever suggested I ought to revise it.

I suspect they really must have a central register, which stores all the names, addresses, meter numbers and details of consumption figures and present supplier. I have been able to go on current energy suppliers site and see figures for my past consumption with previous suppliers.

I agree, giving a false address would soon be noticed, long before the supply is switched.

My costs also rises by around 25% with e.on, if I fail to switch before the end of my present contract with them. No surprise there - as said only fools fail to switch.

 

[JohnW2]

They can look it up. Part of the "web of connected enterprises" that forms the electrickery supply business, there's a big database that links (I assume all of) meters, meter point numbers, addresses, who is supplying an individual meter point, and who owns the meter(s). Note that a meter point number may reference more than one meter.

Ah, fair enough. As I said, I wondered if that might be the case.

I suppose a central register makes sense. Without it, there could be confusion/chaos if more than one supplier thought (or claimed) that they were supplying the same meter/customer.

Kind Regards, John