Energy Prices (Strictly NO referrals!)

[chrcoluk]

What are people's thoughts on the current Octopus gas tracker capped at 30p/kWh? I'm currently on it capped at 16p, and while (IIRC) it hasn't hit the cap since I've been on it, potentially looking at £500/month of gas if it DOES hit the 30p cap next winter.

I realise this is very much "pull out your crystal ball", but what are the chances of prices reaching that point for any significant period in the next 12 months?

I think its unlikely, which is why I have previously said these caps are effectively uncapped. Octopus have set them with extreme paranoia.

Consider how much wholesale rose from summer 2021 to its peak, and look at what multiple would be needed for the current tracker cost to reach 30p. (likewise for electric to reach 100p)

Agile is somewhat more likely than tracker due to its formula though (electric) with its massive multiplier.

 

[McPhee]

Not locked in, but it can take up to 2 weeks to switch away, so potentially still £2-300+ for those couple of weeks!

Looking at the average daily price over the last 12 months, it's ~7.1p/kWh, which is only just below the current fix of 7.6p/kWh.

While that's not a very good indicator, given that the majority of usage will be during peak colder months (e.g. November-Feb) where the unit rate is likely to be more expensive, it seems it's not such a good idea.

However, on the flip side; obviously past performance is not indicative of future results, and the fix rate wouldn't be lower if they didn't think that the average price was going to come down.

I think you missed the best days already TBH. A Gas Tracker customer paid about half the amount that a price cap customer paid over the past 6 months. That's not to say that Tracker is now a bad tariff; with an average price of 4.2p over the past month, it's still the cheapest Gas tariff on the market. But I can see why a fix at 7.6p would be tempting.

 

[MadMossy]

Wholesale prices continue to drop, currently around the same price per therm as they were in winter 2018, yet the price for consumers is still significantly higher.

 

[Haggisman]

I think you missed the best days already TBH. A Gas Tracker customer paid about half the amount that a price cap customer paid over the past 6 months. That's not to say that Tracker is now a bad tariff; with an average price of 4.2p over the past month, it's still the cheapest Gas tariff on the market. But I can see why a fix at 7.6p would be tempting.

I've been on tracker for the last 12 months, so yes, have made quite a saving already

Think I'll probably renew it for now, but will definitely be keeping a close eye on the prices. With a 16p/kWh cap it was a relatively easy decision at only 5p more than the EPG, and worth the gamble it would remain below that level for the majority of the time.

Now that it's potentially almost 4x the current cap it's not so clear

 

[dlockers]

Chaps, on octopus go, how do I calc the cost? The app doesn't let you.

 

[squerble]

Chaps, on octopus go, how do I calc the cost? The app doesn't let you.

Look at how much you've used between 0030-0430 and multiply that by the night rate, and all other usage multiply by the day rate.

 

[dlockers]

Look at how much you've used between 0030-0430 and multiply that by the night rate, and all other usage multiply by the day rate.

Okay but imagine for a second I am not a caveman, is there not a digital way to do this?

Edit: if you say calculator I am going to be cross

 

[squerble]

Okay but imagine for a second I am not a caveman, is there not a digital way to do this?

Get the Hugo app, connect it to your smart meter, set up the rates in there, let it calculate for you

 

[dlockers]

Get the Hugo app, connect it to your smart meter, set up the rates in there, let it calculate for you

Ah that is a good shout actually. I started using Bright but you can't set your own rates.

Perfect solution! Thank you sir.

 

[lookitsjonno]

Wholesale prices continue to drop, currently around the same price per therm as they were in winter 2018, yet the price for consumers is still significantly higher.

It's a bloody disgrace isn't it, everyone is just bent over the barrel getting royally shafted

 

[HungryHippos]

It's the middle of summer wholesale prices are typically cheaper now.

You can get onto Octopus trackers and take advantage of this for both today, but in the winter they may not look so good (it's riskier than fixing).

Otherwise fix er up and pay a bit more as the fixed prices take into account year ahead pricing.

 

[silversurfer]

The gas tracker requires some alternative, most people could just use electric instead so thats good enough.

Stuff we could have done 25 years ago and in ten years time we might have 1 but still be behind for a generation. If they are serious about no coal and less gas its a tiny bit late:

MSN

 

[flea.rider]

The gas tracker requires some alternative, most people could just use electric instead so thats good enough.

Stuff we could have done 25 years ago and in ten years time we might have 1 but still be behind for a generation. If they are serious about no coal and less gas its a tiny bit late:

MSN

TRUE the world still uses 95% oil in everyday use .. and to go green we will have to use a lot more for mining and production of solar panels wind and everything else .. it's going to be another 100 yrs unless a very good alternative energy source is found

 

[jpaul]

Hydrogen home heating/water trial whitby failed, beacuse brits were afraid of its explosive potential, guess they hadn't seen the aftermath of the Jersey/Guernsey gas explosion -
so better insulation like eu households and reducing costs of heat pump installs is only option.

Today sounds like Tata/jaguar have a good fixed energy deal as part of their battery factory deal, govt should offer these incentives to all those considering emigrating (post-br*)

 

[Siliconslave]

Move to Octopus seems to be going well - emailed them about my referral and had a response the same day, phoned them and the call was answered and query sorted in 5min - it'd take shell twice that to answer the phone - so rather pleased with the support side of it so far

 

[squerble]

Hydrogen home heating/water trial whitby failed, beacuse brits were afraid of its explosive potential, guess they hadn't seen the aftermath of the Jersey/Guernsey gas explosion -
so better insulation like eu households and reducing costs of heat pump installs is only option.

Today sounds like Tata/jaguar have a good fixed energy deal as part of their battery factory deal, govt should offer these incentives to all those considering emigrating (post-br*)

Hydrogen was never going to work for homes anyway, as entirely new pipework would need to be laid from source all the way to properties, as well as replacing pipework from the mains into each house. I remember at an older house the pipework ran from the front of the house to a meter cabinet, then back under the house all the way to the rear where it popped back into the house and into the boiler. How many other houses would be like that? Hydrogen is a complete non-starter for homes in practicality, even though boilers can work on it.

Clearly makes more sense to go heat pump which uses 1/3 -1/5 the energy, and improves local air by ridding local burning.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

Hydrogen was never going to work for homes anyway, as entirely new pipework would need to be laid from source all the way to properties, as well as replacing pipework from the mains into each house. I remember at an older house the pipework ran from the front of the house to a meter cabinet, then back under the house all the way to the rear where it popped back into the house and into the boiler. How many other houses would be like that? Hydrogen is a complete non-starter for homes in practicality, even though boilers can work on it.

Clearly makes more sense to go heat pump which uses 1/3 -1/5 the energy, and improves local air by ridding local burning.

This.

It’s right that people should be more cautious around it than ‘natural gas’.

1) the molecule size is far smaller so it can leak out of far smaller flaws in pipes and connections compared to gas.

2) when it leaks it’s explosive in a much greater range of concentrations. So if there is a leak, it will be explosive in almost all real world scenarios. By comparison gas is explosive in a far narrower set of circumstances in the real world.

 

[ci_newman]

Today Octopus have bumped me back into Agile for Electric and Tracker for gas (which is what I asked for originally). I haven't contacted them about it, so they must have realised there was an admin error on their side when they bulk-moved people over.

A bit annoying really as I had stopped shifting my peak load as I thought we were back on daily rates and it appears they've back-billed.

 

[bigmike20vt]

A bit annoying really as I had stopped shifting my peak load as I thought we were back on daily rates and it appears they've back-billed.

does that mean you are out of pocket - ie your bill is more now than it would have been had they not backdated you..................... or is it just that you have saved less money than you could have done?

if it is the latter then that is a minor pita........... however if it is the former and you now have a bigger bill than you were expecting that is pretty out of order and i would definitely complain.

 

[jpaul]

Hydrogen - they introduce an odor into the hydrogen, and, I assume, have more sensitive/extensive gas detectors mandated (stupidly we've only had a CO detector for a few years, although combi probably has some smarts too).

Read several articles about ev's use in our climate enhanced summers, and, like people preconceptions for hydrogen(r101 etc), implications of faulty cooling systems or misuse may introduce fire concerns.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...emperatures-break-down-electric-car-batteries high temperatures are an averse environment for ev's
https://carnewschina.com/2022/04/18/chinese-electric-vehicles-are-on-fire/ some poor designs