OT: OVO pricing

They just charge more for it, so you know its 'better'

The default variable tarrif is usually the one reviewed every 3 months by Ofgem. The next review is November this year to be applied January next year

See this article

I still haven't found if that is the source of 'Variable' in the OVO tariff.

As for the cost of Renewables, you'll have to ask Ed about that, if you can catch him. It does make a mockery of all the 'We'll reduce the price of energy' claims.

Quote Variable (Simpler Energy)

With no fixed contract, you can change tariffs when you like. Prices can change in line with wholesale costs and the energy price cap.

Contract length: No contract Prices reviewed: Every 3 months Early exit fee: £0

I just means it isn't fixed, they can vary it as and when they see fit, provided it doesn't exceed the cap.

LOL. You didnt actually believe that?

The renewable operator may not have charged that, but that is the cost for e.g. importing it from Norway when its dark and windless...or buying carbon credits

Yes, but it doesn't say on what basis it is changed.

When I was with OVO, they used to email me every now and then to ask how they could make things better.

I always replied suggesting they also introduce a ’nuclear only’ tariff, which would of course be available 24/7/365, unlike the ’green’ tariff which would leave such customers without power for days at a time over winter, and which would be far cheaper.

They never replied…

any reason, or no reason ...

I've been delighted with the savings I've made with Octopus Tracker. The charge per unit of gas, and of electric, can vary from one day to the next, price for next day, announced the day before, but it is almost always well below the other options.

They base the charge per Kwh, of each, on a calculation - the wholesale price which they pay, plus a margin for profit. Formulae announced, before you sign up for it, and formulae fixed for 12/14months. If you don't like it, you can swap without penalty, to any other Octopus tariff, usually within 24 hours, but up to 14 days.

The only thing is, the cost can sometimes rise above normal, usually briefly, but more than compensated by the cheap days. At least you can decide when to consume, to minimise the cost.

There is a referral here -https://share.octopus.energy/jade-light-417You save £50 on your first bill, and I save the same.

They mark the renewable electrons with a green dye, your smart meter is then able to filter out all but the green electrons.

Ed never mentioned that!! Cunning, these eco-zealots. They have offered me this tariff, but I don't have a so-called 'smart' meter. I bet there's 'one with my name on it' just waiting to be installed. Do green electrons come with aliens' eyes on stalks? Or are they jealous? Just wondering. Maybe Ed can tell me.

Historic tracker prices for both electricity and gas can be found at

Possibly only select tracker Apr25 and fixed May 25 for comparison purposes.

I'm in my second year on the tracker Last November and December I probably broke even on tracker price compared to their fixed price. Jan to Feb was marginally cheaper. Mar to the beginning of this month it has been cheaper than the fixed price. (Electricity about 10%, gas about 12%) However, I use the majority of gas for CH in winter where the tracker price tends to be close to the fixed price tariff.

Undoubtably. Seriously, once you get past the tinfoil hat conspiracy theories there are many good reasons for having one.

Tim

I can't see 'many'. I can see that cheaper tariffs are offered with 'smart' meter installation, but apart from that, I read and log my meter reading every morning, so what are these other benefits?

As you say, many of the cheaper tariffs now require a smart meter.

With octopus (and a smart meter) you can download your consumption figures as .cvs document to a resolution better than 30 minutes.

With many suppliers you can take advantage of various free electricity for X number of hours on certain days.

If, for instance, you have a EV now or in the near future some of te EV charging tariffs can be extremely low during the night or there are cheap tariffs if you let the supplier select which hours during the night to charge the car

You can do this regardless of your supplier with:

Manually logging daily doesn’t tell you WHEN you’ve used power during the day. A smart meter logs half hourly. Using this data, power companies can then offer you hugely advantageous tariffs based on time of use (like the old economy 7 tariffs, but with bells on). It incentivises investment in tech that enables you to time shift your power consumption.

My average electricity cost per kWh has been under 7p so far this year. It will go up over the winter as we have a heat pump now and no gas but I’m confident that it will be lower than last winter’s combined energy bill.

Tim