Energy Prices (Strictly NO referrals!)

Trig said:
So, I'm now with Octopus....
Tarrif is a touch cheaper than I had with Shell so that's a good start..

How do they work out all of their energy comes from green sources though, I'm pretty sure it all just ends up in the grid and goes through the same cables, its not like someone reconnects you on the pylon down the road when you switch...
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If you're on a tariff which says it's green then they promise to buy in/generate as much green energy as you use to the grid. You're correct it's otherwise just grid mix you actually use.

Did you use a ref code? it's not too late even after you switch over if you forgot or didn't realise. Worth it for £50 ref money.

I'd recommend moving to the tracker tariffs perhaps, on balance should wind up cheaper than the standard flex/SVR plan.
 
HungryHippos said:
If you're on a tariff which says it's green then they promise to buy in/generate as much green energy as you use to the grid. You're correct it's otherwise just grid mix you actually use.

Did you use a ref code? it's not too late even after you switch over if you forgot or didn't realise. Worth it for £50 ref money.

I'd recommend moving to the tracker tariffs perhaps, on balance should wind up cheaper than the standard flex/SVR plan.
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I'm now Octopus because I was Shell and they bought out something or other so I was just moved from one to the other, not sure if a code would work in my case..
I'll have a poke through the website when I get back tonight, internets a bit ropey where I am currently..
 
Trig said:
I'm now Octopus because I was Shell and they bought out something or other so I was just moved from one to the other, not sure if a code would work in my case..
I'll have a poke through the website when I get back tonight, internets a bit ropey where I am currently..
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Afaik no you can't if you got moved, some savvy people moved themselves ahead of being moved though! :D

Tracker should still be worth looking at, or maybe agile if you can shift load around, both need smart meters though.

octopus.energy

Octopus Tracker

Britains' fairest energy tariff, with dynamic daily pricing and 100% renewable electricity.
octopus.energy octopus.energy

Recent prices are on octotrack site: https://octotrack.co.uk/ if you select region on the left. Price changes daily.
 
HungryHippos said:
Afaik no you can't if you got moved, some savvy people moved themselves ahead of being moved though! :D

Tracker should still be worth looking at, or maybe agile if you can shift load around, both need smart meters though.

octopus.energy

Octopus Tracker

Britains' fairest energy tariff, with dynamic daily pricing and 100% renewable electricity.
octopus.energy octopus.energy

Recent prices are on octotrack site: https://octotrack.co.uk/ if you select region on the left. Price changes daily.
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I'll have a proper look when I'm back in the UK next week, got a few days off before I'm back in the office.
I still have the Shell smart meters which appear to be on the Octopus site so will see if they need swapping or not, I'll do some manual meter readings when I get back and see if they line up..
 
Trig said:
So, I'm now with Octopus....
Tarrif is a touch cheaper than I had with Shell so that's a good start..

How do they work out all of their energy comes from green sources though, I'm pretty sure it all just ends up in the grid and goes through the same cables, its not like someone reconnects you on the pylon down the road when you switch...
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Its not all green, whatever they say or spin it, that just isnt true.

You can view the grid mix live if you wanted, https://grid.iamkate.com/
 
Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
Source required
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It's just how it works. They purchase certificates or produce enough over the year to specify each customer is 100% on green energy but there are many times when renewable energy is not sufficient to cover everyone on those tariffs and the shortfall is made up with fossil fuels. So they can sell 100% green energy but when a customer uses power it isn't always from a green source.
 
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200sols said:
It's just how it works. They purchase certificates or produce enough over the year to specify each customer is 100% on green energy but there are many times when renewable energy is not sufficient to cover everyone on those tariffs and the shortfall is made up with fossil fuels. So they can sell 100% green energy but when a customer uses power it isn't always from a green source.
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So what your saying is that the energy they sell isn't what they say they are selling.

Lets be clear, they say that for every 1kWh you consume they will supply to the grid 1kWh of green energy
They don't claim the energy you use will be the same precise millions of watts that they supply in real time to your exact premises matching the amount they supply with the amount your using.
That would be a rather dumb claim or expectation.

I don't think anyone is claiming they do supply what your saying they don't supply.

However the more customers sign up for a green supplier they more green they will ensure is supplied.
Whats so hard to understand?

Its a shared network, so who supplies what at what times is semi irrelevant.

TLDR their claim is they supply your total consumption from green sources, not your real time load. Which from what I can tell they do do.
 
200sols said:
I just told you what I'm saying. Fact is when the grid is most polluting many people think they are still on green energy when in fact they are not.
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But thats people being dumb, no shock horror there
The suppliers quote for something different

They quote for the total of all your elec usage they will buy a total to match yours from green sources.

If they were claiming you real time load was from green sources you would have a point.
But they don't...
 
Doesnt Agile do something like this in effect. I think the UK overall has enough wind turbines to say its green but only in gale conditions, dead still it could be burning coal. I think DRAX is being sued on similar arguments. They need to capture the 50 foot tidal drop every day on the Seven, that amount of green energy is world class.

Fan Club tariff in Market Weighton:

  • Available for all YO43 postcodes
  • 50% discount at winds above 8 m/s
  • £1 p/w membership cost
Fan Club tariff in Caerphilly:

  • Available for all CF81 and NP24 postcodes
  • 50% discount at winds above 10.8 m/s
  • £1 p/w membership cost
Turbine specs:

  • The blades are 54m long
  • The turbines are 73 meters tall
  • Each turbine has a 500kW power output (enough to power up to 400 homes per year)
  • They operate in wind speeds between 2.5m/s and 25m/s.
Click to expand...
octopus.energy

Blow those costs away: Octopus Energy launches world’s first electricity tariff that gets cheaper when it’s windy

octopus.energy octopus.energy

13p for tracker the other day, what was it a few years ago that is good right
 
Beans on toast Dave said:
i guess everyone is on the new tracker rates as of today?

still cheaper than the standard rates so im sticking with it, but i do make sure i grab the free weeky coffee from gregs (via octopus app) to make up for it
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Saved a fortune over the winter, but depending on the price caps when they get announced fixes might become more attractive anyway, versus the risk on tracker
 
Beans on toast Dave said:
i guess everyone is on the new tracker rates as of today?

still cheaper than the standard rates so im sticking with it, but i do make sure i grab the free weeky coffee from gregs (via octopus app) to make up for it
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Aye. Now on the new Dec 2023 v1 for both Agile and gas tracker. Good to see the daily standing charge is also significantly lower than the cap; 36.53p for elec and 27.47p for gas.
 
Beans on toast Dave said:
i guess everyone is on the new tracker rates as of today?

still cheaper than the standard rates so im sticking with it, but i do make sure i grab the free weeky coffee from gregs (via octopus app) to make up for it
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oooo is it 1 per week? i thought it was just 1 per account.

in which case i need to pop in as i walk past gregs most fridays (shame its not a sausage roll however ;) )
 
200sols said:
Fact is when the grid is most polluting many people think they are still on green energy when in fact they are not.
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suppliers could have a higher level green certification tarif where they genuinely provide all the energy real time from green sources -
so when wind/solar not matching customer demand they have grid battery storage that is discharging to make up the shortfall (which itself was charged from wind/solar).
might be expensive per unit or need tou tarifs but must be businesses/individuals who are rich enough, and want the kudos.
 
200sols said:
I just told you what I'm saying. Fact is when the grid is most polluting many people think they are still on green energy when in fact they are not.
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that is where a house battery comes in. (i am not saying i always do this to be fair as it can be a pita) but if you are that way inclined, IF your house battery isnt going to last you through the day you can work out when the grid will be at its dirtiest you can make sure you are not using the grid then.
The minor down side to that is that i have made single digit pennies off the octopus saving sessions........... but i can live with that. (because you cant use less than zero and i dont want to force discharge my battery)
 
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