What do you actually pay per unit? It's quite hard to get figures from the net. I'm looking at a new 1 year contract charging about 10.85p per kwh. Their 2 year contract is slightly pricier which suggests that they expect prices to go up. Is this likely?
A company is there to make money. Southern Electric increased their price per unit from 9.97p to 13.9p in December. This is to meet the projected profit figures they give out for the tax year ending soon. All it does it drive customers away. British Gas did the same by increasing their gas price by 180% within 6months - but stupid people stayed with them. Others were taken in by an elaborate scam to pay MORE per unit with a promise their cost per unit would not increase. Scammed customers taken in by media scare stories of price increases had not realised the gas had been purchased in advance at a cut price! So customers paid nearly double and a premium for doing so. Martyn Lewis suggested people do this - incorrectly - then later retracted his statement and told people to change to a cheaper supplier. You can't blame him as his advice is directly proportional to how much companies pay him for advertising and commission.
Which company are you looking at so that I can tell you the real cost! Some include charges and NPOWER were caught scamming customers by incorrectly calculating their bill and overcharging. You can claim that back but you might need to issue legal proceedings.
Always ask for the price per unit inclusive of VAT. If a company will not display this on their site leave them well alone.
It depends on your area and your annual consumption. Also, I am on a dual-fuel deal, so unless you plan to do the same, my price is irrelevant.
Armed with the above information, check out the comparison websites; there is also the Utility Warehouse. I am on Scottish Gas Click Energy
6 (now unavailable and cheaper in my case than their current web-based deal) which I found in my recent trawl to be pretty competitive.HTH,
Kostas
Ex VAT (5% on domestic energy)
Scottish Power 9.281 (Standing Charge, Online, Paperless, Fixed monthly DD).
Equipower 12.14 (Pay for what you use only, no standing charge or one hidden via Tier1/2 rates, fixed monthly DD)
Equipower E7 4.83 - 15.06 (Pay for what you use only, no standing charge or one hidden via Tier1/2 rates, fixed monthly DD)
I don't like fixed term contracts unless the price is fixed significantly less that I'm currently paying on a "switchable" tarrif. Prices up or down, who can tell in the current financial climate? Crude oil has been fairly stable since December at just over $40/barrel but has recently started to rise again to around $50/barrel.
I know about all that - I just want to know what people actually pay. What are the p/kwh charge or charges on your bill?
From 1st April Scottish Power will be charging me 10.884p (inc. VAT) per unit - a reduction of about 2.5% compared with the present charge. This is capped for 6 months. There is an option to cap the new prices until (I think) May 2010 for an extra £1 per month for electricity and £1 for gas - but I don't think I'll go down that route because it would tie me in, with penalties if I switched suppliers in the meantime.
Are you looking *just* for an electricity supplier, or do you use gas as well? Prices *could* still fall so a *capped* tariff is better than a
*fixed* one if you can find one.
Thanks. So my 10.85 is in the realm of 'normal'. It's difficult for me to get the usual domestic deals as we have 3 phase and they all want to treat that as business supply. I've gone for a fixed 2 years at a slightly higher rate as my best guess is that prices will rise in the near future, what with peak oil, climate change measures etc.
jacob posted
Mine (Atlantic dual tariff) is 12.1 p/kWh plus standing charge of 12.1 p/day.
Thanks for getting me to look at it - I'm changing tomorrow :)
Got a sheet in front of me with EDF's prices on... they seem to vary per region, but locally its 15.61/8.64 p per kwh on a disguised standing charge tariff with the split at 900 kwh. (or to put it another way, a standing charge of just under £16/quarter)
First 133 kWh x 19.285p The rest x 9.142p Minus 13.93 discount.
All three need to have VAT added on. On average I was at 9.57p per kWh (incl VAT) last quarter.
HTH, Kostas
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