Indeed i switched away from BG, not to save money but because of the odd billing style. Annoying adverts and pushing ‘insurance’ type products.
Out of curiosity OFTM’s offers didn’t look appealing. It’s what I expected really - there is no real competition.
OVO sent me a 2 year fix offer essentially the same as the variable rate I’m paying now. Said, yeah, fine, evs.
This was after going on a comparison site looking at options and leaving my email address. I assume some software at OVO is then triggered to send a prompt to me as existing customer.
Futures prices say costs will likely be lower in Spring but probably not by very much. Whereas some major fkp in supply chain could properly stiff us. So, not bothered about it for a couple of years now.
Is that lower than they are today or lower than they will be after the 10% increase that is predicted to be coming?
I’d like a two or three year fix, but I guess Octopus won’t offer that and I can’t really be bothered to move.
The gas is 5.7p, plus 28.71p per day standing charge. We now pay just over £145 a month, which seems ok. It was £110 before all the shenanigans.
Are you fixed or variable?
Ah, referring to wholesale prices…
Fixed.
In the hope that I haven’t missed seeing a similar post - here in the UK:
It amuses me that whilst there is a constant push for households to switch from rated to consumption for water supply …
… the policy for ever-increasing daily unit charges for electricity and gas supplies (combined with some reduction in the unit consumption charges) has the opposite effect.
I know that some of the daily charges is to recover funds spent in bailing out the energy providers which went bust in the last few years, so will a same “argument” be applied if and when a water company - say Thames Water - requires bailing 
out? i.e. will we see those on metered supply being hit with a fixed daily charge supposedly to pay for the infrastructure?
As for fixing: yes, recently rolled over into another 12mth deal with Octopus which, presently, appears to offer a small saving (and like HH we’re seeing a reduction in our monthly DDr). Quite why anyone is surprised that energy prices rise in Oct and Jan, and fall in Apr and Jul amazes me
I’ve just fixed electricity for 24m with existing supplier - there was hardly any difference from the 12m fixed price. Gives me peace of mind - although with my luck the price will probably plummet in 12m time. Good that 24m deals are starting to re-emerge.
This looks interesting…?
To co-own a share in a wind farm…
It’s a lovely idea. Though with our consumption we’d pay about £180 just for electricity, whereas with Octopus we pay £145 for both electricity and gas.
Yes, I hadn’t looked at it properly when I posted it.
Buying into a Ripple wind or solar project doesn’t change what you pay on your chosen tariff, other than that you receive a credit every month via your supplier for the power generated by your share. So it cannot increase your monthly payment.
Thanks Chris, I understand it now. It looks like about a 12 year payback, rather like owning panels.
Yes, payback time will depend on future electricity prices. If they spike again, ownership will mitigate this, and if they drop, you earn less, but then your bill should be lower anyway as retail prices reduce.
It seems to me like a good way to support renewable energy as you’re buying a share of an actual onshore wind turbine or solar installation. Ripple use your money to build it, and when it starts generating, they credit you for the wholesale price of that energy.
The payback is about 12 years. It is sort of intended for those that can’t have roof top solar. You receive about 4p per kWh, which is pretty poor. Octopus pay me 15p per kWh for my excess solar.
We keep dithering about rooftop solar. If our roof was south facing I’m sure we’d have done it by now.
Get a decent installer to do the sums. They use fancy software to oredict what you should get. These days, my home batteries earn their money. Charge at 7p overnight, then run the house all day. Sell excess solar at 15p.
Payback on my PV and battery is about 6 years.
This online tool is quite useful as a broad guide for solar panels