far from exceptional ,
i went onto uswitch typed in my post code and i get the absolute max of 4 companies to pick from .
ALL of which are far more expensive apart from 1 company called BULB .
i live in a small ( ish ) town in Scotland that is serviced by very little in the way of companies .
the choices i get when i enter my details for electric , gas are simple
EDF
Scottish power
e-on
and bulb .
if i dont go through uswitch and go to energy companies directly i get more options ( 7 companies )
mainly same companies but with other options of tariffs to chose from and DD ONLY options.
several state they currently only cover larger towns , cities
but ALL companies are far more expensive than British gas . some are as much as £400 more than we currently pay .
and funny enough the companies who charge more are the so called “” green energy suppliers “”
Thanks for your reply James. It sounds as though you are either detached from the National Grid or have only a weak link to it. British Gas is much cheaper than the others so it sounds as though British Gas actually supplies the energy to your area. For other companies it is either expensive so they charge more, or don’t want to know. They would need to “buy” the energy from British Gas to sell on to you, which is hardly competition. At any rate you have made an interesting revelation.
It is sadly true that the “green” suppliers tend to be more expensive. Nature’s energy may be “free” but the cost of setting up wind farms and solar farms, and the associated rent, is considerable in relation to the power generated.
I’ve just seen this thread. I know someone who worked as an Energy Champion for CAB. His opinion was wait for SMETS2 - with which you can change energy company easily (there are issues with first generation ones stopping sending data to your energy company if you move). I think one reason for repeated mailings from energy companies is that they are under obligation to do all they can to ensure smart meters are rolled out, but customers are free to refuse until a point when their meter becomes inoperable anyway.
when I was a child in the 1970s we used to have a meter with a disc that spun round fast when you put the kettle on and much slower the rest of the time. Nothing new under the sun and not much more help in analyzing your overall usage. Several hours of that slow spinning added up to a lot more than several 3 minute fast spins - can’t imagine it’ll be any clearer with a smart meter. I think the distinction between the cost of prepayment and account payment is the difference rather than the benefits of a smartmeter.
Well, it’s “hat-eating” time! Our tariff expired, and we went onto the “standard variable” one. I checked on USwitch and found that this time our current supplier could not offer any new tariff that was competitive.
It turned out that Bulb was one of the cheapest for us. There were notably a few other “green” companies even cheaper but by only a few pounds a year. I chose Bulb, not least after noting comments from James and others; it seems to be building a good reputation and is prepared to cover far-reaching parts of Scotland. (I presume it has a stake in the hydro-electric plant there.)
So “Green” can be cheaper after all! Maybe the tide is turning, and the initial investment in renewable plant is starting to pay off. Our switch is now complete and I like Bulb’s website - straightforward and easy to submit meter readings, review consumption, review bills, etc.
the saving from bulb was worthless , it would have saved us £10 a year ( up to £10 ) .
i since done homework into Bulb and it appears those in remote serviced areas get a questionable service provided.
any time they have power issues , they attempt to contact bulb and get no answer , or told we cant answer that sorry , what are you calling us for , we dont make the power so dont contact us in the future.
But the same can be applied for ALL major companies regardless of what they sell / provide etc .
be it Virgin , O2 , SKY , vodaphone etc etc etc , it purely depends on who you actually get handling your call in the call centre or if you have been unlucky enough to get through to a third party call centre .
hydro power is in pockets up here , only tends to benefit those within a set area , same with rubbish horrid wind turbines .
infact just the other day one of scotlands largest wind farms is being closed , and the company is no longer opening new wind farms , just so happens the owner is a Spanish company , and they say its north worth the money , time , effort , to expensive to run , to expensive to put the electric into the grid , and they never kept to there word of making wind turbines in scotland , they were always built out of the UK and built in Poland , Germany , Norway etc etc .
and i sure as heck wont be stupid enough to change over to the so called not for profit power supposedly being run 100% by the scottish assembly … when its now come out they want NOTHING to do with it , and the favoured idea is to piggy back councils onto companies already up and running , this was after an Edinburgh company that was backed by the scottish assembly closed down and lost millions of tax payers money handed to them on a golden plate
Thanks again for your comments, James. I am sorry you are less enthusiastic about Bulb. The best choice for one person may not be the best for another. It depends on how much fuel you use, and other things, including location.
If the power goes off, phone the company that supplies the local electricity network, not the firm to whom you pay your bill.
For the benefit of the forum, the number is commonly 105 (landline), though this may not apply to all areas such as yours.
It has been interesting to share our experiences, James - thank you.
Agreed. That’s why I chose a provider that was growing in size and reputation, though some smaller providers were ostensibly slightly cheaper.
Which is counter productive to why the government and ofgen think we should be more liberal with switching… we need consistency and the stress these changes bring about cancel out any small savings we might achieve.
Indeed!
Same story with alot of services really I’ve been with the same ISP for donkeys years its not the cheapest yet its reliable/rarely ever down and has a really lenient fair usage policy, I couldn’t stand the constant switching of hardware (they all use different architecture/routers etc) for the sake of example a tenner not to mention the possibility of losing even that if the service fails, most other providers around here stink.
My philosophy entirely. I have been with the same Internet Service Provider for years. It’s possibly not the best and certainly not the cheapest but I have enjoyed years of hassle-free service.
Well, our meter was reaching the end of its life, so we had to get a SMETS2 fitted We’ve deactivated the smart facility (woman at utility company said it couldn’t be done, fitter said of course it could), but it’s too early yet to predict what the bills will be like.
This thread was marginal in its connection with caring from the outset, and it has become more a consumer affairs matter than a caring one. I have said plenty and have reached the point where it is time for me to bow out.
My prediction is that those who opt out of the cheap-rate variable tariffs available with smart meters will instead be given a flat-rate tariff which will be more expensive.
This is my last post on this thread. Bye, bye! See you elsewhere on this forum.
Any thread that may help half the carer army living BELOW the official poverty line in reducing
the costs associated with the " Unholy Trinity " … eat / heat / roof … is to be encouraged ?
**Smart meter rollout still a " Million miles away " from its 2020 target, with figures showing steady drop off of installations.
_Number of households having smart meters installed is falling.
To meet 2020 target now, 2 million smart meters would need to be fitted per month.
Just 14.3m devices have been fitted out of 50m that need to be replaced.
Calls for deadline to be extended as suppliers penalise those who refuse a meter._** >
As many will know mum and i love our smart meter, we switched from Scottish and southern energy to British gas duel fuel and saved £60 a week in top up. BUT ,
British gas inform us we are already on the cheapest tariff available on smart meter , with the price cap.
and for gas and electric we are over £2000 .
With British gas making a HUGE cock up with their new App … it wont connect to allow for top ups. it crashes , every time you sign in it looks like its a new account you must register as it says “” lets get started “” .
the info it shows is SOOOOOOO out of date for Gas and Electric .
the other day we were down to £12 electric because they app would not allow us to top up, but on the app it stated Electric you have £67 in the meter …
UMMMM NOPE we dont.
I have called British Gas to complain and was told “” it aint us , its your phone trust me “” , someone else said “” uninstall the app , re download it simples “” …
nope wrong again British Gas , and more and more negative reviews appear on the App download page .
So mum is now considering changing to DD .
According to Octopus if we went with them , we would be saving £340.61 a year ( over the big 6 , if we were DD with them ) . but the site cannot give us a comparison as we are currently Pay as you go meter , so we should call them for further details.
but going through an other comparison site it looks like going to DD could save us a lot lot more than £340 a year.
For example , currently we spend £30 a week on electric alone.
30 x 4 - £120 in electric
compared to Octopus
£116 a month combined Gas and Electric …
So thats £58 Electric and £58 gas per month.
Just have to do more research , and maybe make a few calls. as mum is worried she would be refused going over to a credit meter.
Smart meters are not just to show what uses what , but they are helpful for disabled people who cannot go outside all the time. Smart meters also stop the need of meter readings , so someone no longer needs to arrange to enter your home to read a meter.
And smart meters are actually an EU idea , to eventually have “” smart network grids “” , so the idea is each home is given the exact electric it needs , such as a family of 4 would be given more electric and there for charged more compared to a single person who would use less and be charged less for usage. and being “” smart “” is to supposedly allow for real time readings of a persons home , so prices become “” live “” so it no longer became a set standard price.
i say electric , because countries like scotland are planning on scrapping gas , as yet they have not said what they will replace it with , they also say eventually 100% of scotlands electric will 100% come from green sources 100% of the time none of it will come from traditional sources LOL
Why smart meters have left you steaming: In the bid to force customers to go digital, energy firms are hitting those who refuse with soaring bills> Energy suppliers were saving best deals for those willing to have the gadgets.
Those who don’t want one are punished with pricier gas and electricity bills.
More than 50 letters received by Money Mail were from E.on customers.
**_Previously, suppliers’ deadline was the end of 2020, but energy firms had warned the technology was not ready.
But the extra time could lead to more years of frustration for customers, many of whom are fed up with the new meters they have been given.
It also means the cost of installing the new equipment is likely to rise further, to more than £13bn in total.
Customers are not obliged to have a smart meter fitted, but energy firms must have offered them to all UK households by the end of the new deadline.
The promise of smart meters was that readings would be automatic, billing would be easier, and a new world of flexible charges would be ushered in.
In practice, millions of people found they had new meters which did not work properly if they switched suppliers - and millions more have not been given the technology at all.
\
Gillian Guy, chief executive of Citizens Advice, thinks extending the smart meter rollout deadline is a “common-sense move” that is good for customers.
“This new deadline gives suppliers time to fix ongoing technical problems and make sure customer service isn’t sidelined as the rollout continues,” she said.
“We’ve seen some energy companies use aggressive techniques to try to persuade people to have smart meters fitted as soon as possible to meet the existing timeline.”
There was a pledge in the Conservative Party’s 2017 election manifesto that every household and business would be offered a smart meter by the end of 2020 - and there is still that expectation.
The government is adamant that its targets are being met and that the new regime outlined on Monday does not amount to a let-off for suppliers.
The energy regulator, Ofgem, had a rule that the energy companies had to take “reasonable steps” to fit meters, which left them plenty of wriggle room.
The Minister for Climate Change, Lord Duncan of Springbank, said: “We remain on track for suppliers to offer every home a smart meter by the end of next year, but to maintain momentum beyond 2020 we are proposing strict yearly installation targets for suppliers from 2021. This will deliver even greater benefits for households and reduce emissions.”
But it is clear to gas and electricity firms that ministers have recognised reality and allowed them an extension. The new framework gives them until the end of 2024 to install smart meters in at least 85% of their customers’ homes.
USwitch.com’s head of regulation Richard Neudegg said that public confidence in the smart meter programme had been “badly damaged”.
“This is now an opportunity to rebuild trust. In particular, people want proof that the solution which allows older smart meters to stay smart when a household switches supplier is finally available,” he said._** >
We’ve deactivated the smart facility (woman at utility company said it couldn’t be done, fitter said of course it could), but it’s too early yet to predict what the bills will be like.
