Energy Suppliers

booyaka · 20 Sep 2021 at 10:51

uncle_rufus said:
Trying to decide whether to try and jump ship from Bulb asap or wait and see...

Sainsbury's seem to have a reasonable fixed tariff - about 20p elec + 4p gas fixed for 2 years with 12,000 Nectar points as a signing bonus, and also no early cancellation/switching fees. Somehow it still seems to work out cheaper than Bulb were following a recent price hike

with bulb - just going to wait and see - supply and credit balances are all protected so no need to jump quickly for me. Will see what happens over the next few days/weeks.

IvanDobskey · 20 Sep 2021 at 11:09

Bit worried about the avro stories having just switched to them

el_dazza · 20 Sep 2021 at 11:13

Yeah, seems like from putting 2 and 2 together that Avro are one of the 4 about to bite the dust.

platypus · 20 Sep 2021 at 11:17

We need a new supplier from Thursday (moving house), not sure who to go with now.

Given we've got solar panels I think I need to look for the lowest standing charge and just wait until we've gotten used to our usage.

b0rn2sk8 · 20 Sep 2021 at 11:22

el_dazza said:
Sainsbury's are actually just British Gas in disguise, so be sure to compare the two.

They are Eon Next (sub brand of Eon) according to MSE which makes sense as their tariffs are identically priced (Nectar points aside).

b0rn2sk8 · 20 Sep 2021 at 11:24

platypus said:
We need a new supplier from Thursday (moving house), not sure who to go with now.

Given we've got solar panels I think I need to look for the lowest standing charge and just wait until we've gotten used to our usage.

Standing charges are such a small amount of your total bill, I would go with a flexible supplier until you know what your revised usage is. A few people have mentioned eon next/Sainsbury’s as offering a decent fixed price with no exit fees in the last few days.

Zenduri · 20 Sep 2021 at 11:29

b0rn2sk8 said:
They are Eon Next (sub brand of Eon) according to MSE which makes sense as their tariffs are identically priced (Nectar points aside).

Yup this is correct. There are 20 min waits at the moment at eon next with 1200 queued which is better than the 1600 at 9am lol. I imagine all suppliers are having a busy day today thanks to all the drama over the weekend

platypus · 20 Sep 2021 at 11:40

b0rn2sk8 said:
Standing charges are such a small amount of your total bill, I would go with a flexible supplier until you know what your revised usage is. A few people have mentioned eon next/Sainsbury’s as offering a decent fixed price with no exit fees in the last few days.

Ah nice to hear, thanks I will look at those then!

Robert · 20 Sep 2021 at 11:42

Energize said:
This could largely have been avoided with nuclear power, the money we are spending on HS2 would pay for enough nuclear power stations to totally replace fossil fuels for electricity generation in the UK, nuclear power provides a predictable stable cost of electricity that avoids these wild fluctuations in prices for the consumer and provides market stability.

Yeah, add in leaving the eu, who are seeing significantly cheaper supplies due to trading as a bloc..

Spleen Sauce · 20 Sep 2021 at 11:51

Kicked off the move from Bulb to E.on Next this morning. Gone 12 months fixed, works out cheaper than the most recent hike with Bulb.

peterwalkley · 20 Sep 2021 at 11:52

Just seen a RNS alert come up: https://www.londonstockexchange.com...-supply-customers-of-people-s-energy/15141387

British Gas have taken on the customers of Peoples Energy and they also say 4 other suppliers as well. Its looking like a lot of the small ones are going under.

uncle_rufus · 20 Sep 2021 at 12:03

booyaka said:
with bulb - just going to wait and see - supply and credit balances are all protected so no need to jump quickly for me. Will see what happens over the next few days/weeks.

Aren't you worried that if they go bust you might end up on a really crappy tariff with whoever you get assigned? Since Bulb have no fixed rate deals then there's nothing for them to honour and you could end up on the worst variable tariff available?

booyaka · 20 Sep 2021 at 12:20

uncle_rufus said:
Aren't you worried that if they go bust you might end up on a really crappy tariff with whoever you get assigned? Since Bulb have no fixed rate deals then there's nothing for them to honour and you could end up on the worst variable tariff available?

potentially yes. However, until I know what's happening in the market/which companies are still around, I'm not going to jump from one to another, then find out that one is also in bother.

If I get "forced" to move to a "random", I'll do my diligence then, but for now, I'm not going to rush into changing anything until I know what's happening with Bulb.

DB_SamX · 20 Sep 2021 at 12:21

Founder of Octopus Energy has been vocal on Twitter this morning; nothing that suggests they are part of these 4 going down. (thankfully)

jpaul · 20 Sep 2021 at 12:22

Spleen Sauce said:
Kicked off the move from Bulb to E.on Next this morning. Gone 12 months fixed, works out cheaper than the most recent hike with Bulb.

Do you have to get a 'free' smart meter ?

Green.energy guy was on radio4 today saying they may not last the winter.

Unseul · 20 Sep 2021 at 12:23

Got my mum switched onto british gas earlier in the month. Their gas price amusingly has a low standing charge, but is quite high per unit, their electricity is "ok" by current standards. However, it's fixed until Mar 2024, which was very attractive, given that I can only see prices rising.

AiiR · 20 Sep 2021 at 12:49

I do find it funny that energy suppliers look for a bailout when they've made poor decisions and can't afford to stay afloat, but ordinary folk have to choose between heating or eating if they fall on hard times and have to suffer through it.

Is this not just the nature of capitalism? Can't have the rewards without the risk surely.

Psycho Sonny · 20 Sep 2021 at 12:52

Undesirable said:
Once, I felt pretty smug about fitting expensive LED bulbs, because most people were using halogen or even incandescent bulbs at the time. Since then, I've had to replace them several times because anything over 60w seems to overheat and die prematurely, and the electricity bills have gone up regardless to compensate for any savings I may have made.

I literally bought the cheapest available from Screwfix 5 years ago and not had to replace a single one.

The problem is you are buying 60w plus alternatives. Are you trying to imitate the sun being in your room or something?

Spleen Sauce · 20 Sep 2021 at 12:54

jpaul said:
Do you have to get a 'free' smart meter ?

Green.energy guy was on radio4 today saying they may not last the winter.

Bulb won't last the winter do you mean?

Yeah meant to get a 'free' smart meter but I already know that we aren't going to be able to have one - there's zero mobile signal on any mobile network at my house, so other companies have tried and failed to put one in previously.

Psycho Sonny · 20 Sep 2021 at 12:55

AiiR said:
I do find it funny that energy suppliers look for a bailout when they've made poor decisions and can't afford to stay afloat, but ordinary folk have to choose between heating or eating if they fall on hard times and have to suffer through it.

Is this not just the nature of capitalism? Can't have the rewards without the risk surely.

Same thing happened in 2008. Rather than bailing out the small people by paying the difference on their mortgages. They bailed out the banks.

Both would have solved the problem. But rather than help the small people they decided to help rich corporations instead that caused the problem in the first place and used the little mans taxes to do it.