Standing Charges for Power

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I have just received notification from Bulb that my electricity cost is going up substantially in April, by 8p per KWh. However my standing charge is going to double in price from 26p to 52p per day. Now I understand that the wholesale price of electricity is going up for everyone but the price of keeping the lines up and paying the employees has surely not doubled. This standing charge increase is something I can do nothing about, I can cut my electricity usage to nothing but will still pay have a considerable price increase on that part of my bill.

I am annoyed. Bulb are notoriously difficult to contact, most people access them by moaning on the forum but I note today that the forum has been made read-only so I cannot even complain there either. Bulb are in administration, I would be less than bothered if they went out of business altogether, hopeless company.
 
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Can't switch at all I'm afraid, there is no one to switch to according to the comparison sites. It's not the price of electricity I'm bothered about though -- I could do something about that -- it's the doubling of the standing charge, I feel I'm being extorted.
 
ShinySideUp said:
Can't switch at all I'm afraid, there is no one to switch to according to the comparison sites. It's not the price of electricity I'm bothered about though -- I could do something about that -- it's the doubling of the standing charge, I feel I'm being extorted.
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If no other supplier will accept you then you are stuck but it might be worth changing to one with better support.
 
As painful,as it is, we have to accept that we have had relatively cheap energy for a number of years.

I too am a customer of Bulb and they are not in isolation in increasing their tariffs. You mention the standing charge. It’s very simple - this is either a separate cost or integrated into your KWh charge. You don’t avoid it, just pay it through a different mechanism.

Bulb have been a good independent provider for many many years but they are the victim of marker forces and latterly have been providing you and me and others with gas and electricity well below the price they are buying at which is why they’re in administration and many others have folded so I think your wings is misguided and misplaced.

We will all feel these increases as the % we spend on heat and light etc will now be a bigger percentage of our monthly spend and will affect those with lower incomes more.
 
I feel like this will cause me to significantly raise my own prices as I have nowhere else turn for help. This doesn't sound good.

I surely won't need any gas from around April onwards till November so would be great not to pay that extortionate standing charge

Meanwhile our lovely government could get their act together to dig out our national resources and cut some VAT! Consumers and business in particular will be pretty much f***ed unless that is the intention after all!
 
sphexx said:
If no other supplier will accept you then you are stuck but it might be worth changing to one with better support.
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Any supplier will accept him. The problem is they are all charging similar rates which are going up in April and again in October, in line with the price cap. Once peoples fixed deals end they will go on to variable tarriffs with a standing charge of around 50p/day for electricity
If we were to take up fracking, invest in Nuclear and expand in the North Sea we would be in a much better place.
 
Craig1912 said:
Any supplier will accept him. The problem is they are all charging similar rates which are going up in April and again in October, in line with the price cap. Once peoples fixed deals end they will go on to variable tarriffs with a standing charge of around 50p/day for electricity
If we were to take up fracking, invest in Nuclear and expand in the North Sea we would be in a much better place.
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That’s what I thought but he wasn’t specific. So he can still change to get better support. I know nothing of Bulb but if they are in administration the support is likely to be bad.

I‘m with Octopus and so far unaffected as I’m on a fixed tariff until May and well in credit despite it being the end of winter. Their communications are between excellent and outstanding ㋡.
 
My op has come across as a complaint about electricity prices in general whereas the raising of the standing charge is what bemuses me. it seems a cynical attempt by the power companies to prevent reduced profits by ensuring that people cutting back on electricity because of the new prices does not impact the profits of electricity companies. I have changed the header to reflect this and separate it from the other thread on general prices.

This is a quote from Uswitch:

The standing charges on your energy bill cover the fixed costs of providing your home with both gas and electricity (each will have its own standing charge).
These costs include the price of keeping your home connected to the energy network, carrying out meter readings, maintenance and other related charges.

Why should this charge rise when it has nothing to do with the rise in the cost of raw electricity?
 
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sphexx said:
That’s what I thought but he wasn’t specific. So he can still change to get better support. I know nothing of Bulb but if they are in administration the support is likely to be bad.

I‘m with Octopus and so far unaffected as I’m on a fixed tariff until May and well in credit despite it being the end of winter. Their communications are between excellent and outstanding ㋡.
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Heard good things about Octopus and will be interesting to see if they survive. Our last three energy companies have gone bust and now with Shell who seem OK.
re OPs comment, the standing charge is a bit of a joke and has been used as a marketing tool to attract new customers, especially those who’s usage is low and the standing charge therefore a greater proportion of the bill.
 
ShinySideUp said:
My op has come across as a complaint about electricity prices in general whereas the raising of the standing charge is what bemuses me. it seems a cynical attempt by the power companies to prevent reduced profits by ensuring that people cutting back on electricity because of the new prices does not impact the profits of electricity companies. I have changed the header to reflect this and separate it from the other thread on general prices.

This is a quote from Uswitch:

The standing charges on your energy bill cover the fixed costs of providing your home with both gas and electricity (each will have its own standing charge).
These costs include the price of keeping your home connected to the energy network, carrying out meter readings, maintenance and other related charges.

Why should this charge rise when it has nothing to do with the rise in the cost of raw electricity?
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No, I understood your point, but as far as I know the suppliers can put up their charges whenever they like (maybe within a limit). But I suspect that since they are currently losing money on the other charges they are trying to cut their losses by upping the standing charge.
 
Craig1912 said:
Heard good things about Octopus and will be interesting to see if they survive. Our last three energy companies have gone bust and now with Shell who seem OK.
re OPs comment, the standing charge is a bit of a joke and has been used as a marketing tool to attract new customers, especially those who’s usage is low and the standing charge therefore a greater proportion of the bill.
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Octopus are fairly big and bigger now they have taken on someof the failing ones. As I understand it, they sell their management systems to others around the world so it looks like they may be OK to me. Only time will tell.
 
Whilst the standing charges are increasing massively, they are still only a small proportion of the bill. Ours will be £22 on a monthly bill of around £200
 
Craig1912 said:
Whilst the standing charges are increasing massively, they are still only a small proportion of the bill. Ours will be £22 on a monthly bill of around £200
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With Octopus my latest for the past month was standing charge 31 days @ 25.54p/day = £7.92 on a bill (plus £64.31 for the energy.).

Octopus have been running an energy saving drive with ‘tips’ )which I’ve followed and have reduced my energy with them) and with regular draws for £8000 ‘prizes’. This week it’s the last one, for £64000. I haven’t won it … yet.
 
We recently got moved to Shell, I just had mail informing of a change of tariff from April, standing gas charge to double, electricity minimal increase, which infrastructure got hammered in the recent storms and is costing vast sums to upgrade, not gas I think, but as the weather improves gas usage will drop lots, coincidental?
Shell expect an £800 increase in my bill in the coming year.
 
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Craig1912 said:
Heard good things about Octopus and will be interesting to see if they survive. Our last three energy companies have gone bust and now with Shell who seem OK.
re OPs comment, the standing charge is a bit of a joke and has been used as a marketing tool to attract new customers, especially those who’s usage is low and the standing charge therefore a greater proportion of the bill.
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Octopus are going no where they're amongst the largest companies energy wise, only a fraction of their money comes from actual energy sales.
 
I thought mine was due to run out in April, seems I got that wrong, its actually the end of July.
I now pay £94 for dual fuel from EDF
It seems that will be almost double (+ £81) on the 1st of August.

ShinySideUp said:
Why should this charge rise when it has nothing to do with the rise in the cost of raw electricity?
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Because they can? :(
 
robj20 said:
Octopus are going no where they're amongst the largest companies energy wise, only a fraction of their money comes from actual energy sales.
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do you mean by turnover, profit or another measure?
 
Brentor said:
do you mean by turnover, profit or another measure?
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Octopus Energy Group is a British renewable energy group specialising in sustainable energy. It was founded in 2015 with the backing of British fund management company Octopus Group, a British asset management company. Headquartered in London, the company has operations in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the United States. As of September 2021 the company has over three million domestic and business customers, making it the fourth largest energy supplier in the UK.[2]

Octopus Energy Group operates a wide range of business divisions, including Octopus Energy Retail, Octopus Energy for Business, Octopus Energy Services, Octopus Electric Vehicles, Octopus Energy Generation, Octopus Hydrogen, Kraken, Kraken Flex and the not-for-profit Centre for Net Zero. The company also supplies software services to other energy suppliers

Octopus Energy - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

And

Octopus Group - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 
It is quite possible that the standing charge increases are a way of recouping the costs of the failures and bailouts.
 
On bills … Octopus emailed me today that I USED 13% less gas & I SAVED £37.29 from my bill by following their ‘tips’ BUT I haven’t won the £64,000 Grand Prize (they’ve been giving £8000 prizes weekly till now).

On the other hand I’ve won a share of £840,000 :) which amounts to … £7.10 :(.
 
Then Octopus wrote:

If £7.10 isn’t much to you, it could make a real difference to someone struggling to pay their energy bill during the current crisis. If you want to donate your share to the £5m Octopus Assist fund, we’ll match it pound for pound — meaning another £14.20 will go directly to Octopus customers who need help.

Ah well, easy come, easy go ㋡
 
mj4456 said:
Perhaps if they didn't charge quite so much their Assist Fund might not be necessary?
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Umm … taking that line would argue that it’s against their interests to encourage customers to cut their fuel usage so … :thinking: .
 
On cutting fuel bills, I thought this was interesting today:

www.bbc.co.uk

The flat-pack water heater that fights climate change

A simple water heater powered just by the Sun is being tried out in Africa.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk

Its intended for overseas but the article says it works here so it seems to me that it could be a useful way of pre-heating water before it goes to the ‘normal’ heating system. $100 and seemingly a DIY device.

No idea of the practicalities. I have a flat roofed outbuilding for the gas boiler with a southern aspect so it could work in that sort of situation.
 
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