Octopus Go prices rising - again

[Gomev]

My fixed term ended in the middle of this month and I went onto the new variable Go tariff at
Day - 40.2p
00:30-04:30 - 12p
Standing - 47.99p

I received an email yesterday with the new tariffs from 1st April
Day - 41.7p
00:30-04:30 - 12p
Standing - 53.95p

Not exactly over the moon about it but using my trusted spreadsheet with my average daily non EV/overnight usage of only 6kWh I need to charge 17kWh per week to make Go more economic than the standard variable tariff.

If I was on Intelligent Octopus I would only need to charge 16kWh per week so not much difference really.

If I had an Ohme charger I think I would be switching to OVO right now.

 

[Jomarkh]

So the new Go is variable then?
My Go ends next month hopefully it will come down a bit by then.
I do have an Ohme so may go onto IO.

 

[Susanna]

What concerns me most, is the outrageous increases in the standing charges. I don’t know how they justify it.

Most people have reduced their energy usage, but the DSC are inescapable. That makes your leccy bill £197 per year, even if you use no electricity at all.

Edited to state that the figure quoted for DSC was in relation to the post by @Gomev - I realise that there are differences across the UK.

 

[smokie]

I understood it was originally increased to pay for the failed companies. I wonder if there is now a new justification?

A while back I read speculation that Go would be discontinued this year in favour of Intelligent Octopus. Maybe they are trying to drive people away from it.

Mine is due up in a couple of months. I did get an OHME charger recently in anticipation!

 

[Alb]

Mine ends in May and Octopus are quoting:

Peak unit rate: 42.70p / kWh
Off-peak unit rate: 12.00p / kWh
Standing charge: 52.32p / day

 

[tsedge]

What concerns me most, is the outrageous increases in the standing charges. I don’t know how they justify it.

Most people have reduced their energy usage, but the DSC are inescapable. That makes your leccy bill £197 per year, even if you use no electricity at all.

They justify it through inflation in the network supply costs. Basically, like everyone else, their costs have gone up and so they need to increase the standing charge.

 

[jamesie]

So, how do Octopus justify the DSC being different for different customers? Mine will be going up to 60p.

 

[tsedge]

So, how do Octopus justify the DSC being different for different customers? Mine will be going up to 60p.

Because the costs of distribution vary across the country with population density and geography, the change to reflect that in the standing charge went in last year - this was an Ofgem decision.

 

[N2STY]

What concerns me most, is the outrageous increases in the standing charges. I don’t know how they justify it.

Most people have reduced their energy usage, but the DSC are inescapable. That makes your leccy bill £197 per year, even if you use no electricity at all.

Definitely agree OVO went up aswell on there newest tariff 43p standing 31.8pkw and 10p changing any time

 

[smokie]

I have all the data I could possibly want but I need to do some work with it in advance of my renewal to check that Octopus is still my preferred supplier. My problem is I can't really predict how much I'll use in charging - I did over 10k miles last year, mostly on Octopus electrons, but that was the first (and probably the last) time I've done over 7000 for a few years.

I am fairly committed to them, using their APIs on a Pi to capture my usage which I find nice to have (but obv not essential) so I wouldn't mind if they were a bit more expensive than OVO.

I suppose I'll just have to test different scenarios and see how it works out.

 

[Lovemyev]

I have to some times wonder if there is a bit of competition / pricing tactics ploy going on .
First advertise the price / Kwh at a slightly cheaper head lined grabbing rate over the competition, but then increase the daily rate charges to claw it back, what at first looked like a cheaper deal !.
A bit of smoke and mirrors tactics going on.
Martin Lewis who has very good handle on what is going on in the energy markets, has predicted that will should be seeing the return of some fixed priced deals arriving around June 2023.

 

[jamesie]

Because the costs of distribution vary across the country with population density and geography, the change to reflect that in the standing charge went in last year - this was an Ofgem decision.

OK, I do live in a rural area. However, it's not at all transparent how this charge is calculated and I wonder if it would differ if I moved supplier?

The old cynic in me suggests it's quite a nice way for the supplier to profiteer.

 

[tsedge]

OK, I do live in a rural area. However, it's not at all transparent how this charge is calculated and I wonder if it would differ if I moved supplier?

The old cynic in me suggests it's quite a nice way for the supplier to profiteer.

I believe right now all the pricing is controlled by Ofgem, but in normal times you'd be right and Ofgem's decisions are not that transparent either.

 

[smokie]

The old cynic in me suggests it's quite a nice way for the supplier to profiteer.

Weird, whoever heard of a business wanting to be profitable

 

[jamesie]

Weird, whoever heard of a business wanting to be profitable

Depends how the profit is made. Increasing charges when the customer has no option but to pay them seems a little dodgy to me.

 

[Lovemyev]

As we live in Wales our local water authority is "Welsh Water" and they pride themselves as being a "Not For Profit Company".
I have to say that this statement has me a little bit baffled to be honest.
We have consistently seen the highest percentage water charges in our part of Wales for years and years now.
About a one hour drive from our home address, I can be at the site of about 3 - 4 huge reservoirs located up in the Welsh mountain ranges.
When watching the national BBC News on the TV the other day, they are already talking about imposing hose pipe bans in certain parts of England in the spring, due to the lack of rain fall.
Therefore it has been mentioned that England will be requesting that fresh drinking water is piped down the country from Wales, which is fair enough.
If there is one thing we have plenty of in Wales is water .
The Welsh government has now responded by saying, it will need to approached FIRST before this can happen and a agreement / deal ( payment ) is reached !.
Once again in 2023 Welsh Water now intends to raise the cost of our water charges in our area AGAIN, this time it looks like it will be the SECOND highest in the U.K. now !.
Given that it looks like we will be selling this water and now pumping down into England, you can understand our frustration why WE are being asked to pay so highly for a plentiful natural commodity to a "Not For Profit Company" like Welsh Water.
Should this deal go through, you would expect Welsh Water to pass on that extra profits by reducing OUR water charges, but no just the opposite will happen.
If that is not the best example of "Profiting" I don't know what is !.
Using the phrase "Not For Profit Company" smacks of total hypocrisy in my mind and should be challenged and contested.

 

[Gomev]

I have all the data I could possibly want but I need to do some work with it in advance of my renewal to check that Octopus is still my preferred supplier. My problem is I can't really predict how much I'll use in charging - I did over 10k miles last year, mostly on Octopus electrons, but that was the first (and probably the last) time I've done over 7000 for a few years.

I am fairly committed to them, using their APIs on a Pi to capture my usage which I find nice to have (but obv not essential) so I wouldn't mind if they were a bit more expensive than OVO.

I suppose I'll just have to test different scenarios and see how it works out.

@smokie you don't need to know how much charging you will do to chs=eck if the tariff is right for you. Work out/findout/check bills etc to see how much your household uses, without charging, i.e. just the normal stuff excluding the overnight usage.

Once you know this you can do a quick approximation calc of 40%
So for example if you use 100kWh per week then you need to additionally charge overnight 40kWh per week to make the time of day tariff worthwhile. This is based on my Go tariff at c 42p and 12p.

I have done the exact calculations and put the spreadsheet on this forum a couple of times where you can add your own figures it it will work it all out for you.

On my tariff rates it is approx 40%, before on my previous fix it was 33%.

 

[smokie]

Yep I'd previously looked at your spreadsheet, and I'll look it out again nearer my renewal time.

The problem for me is that I can't predict how much charging I will do over a year.

Having been away for 6 weeks, I now know that my house has used about a quid's worth a day at rest for March (plus standing charge, and net of any solar production). That's a fridge/freezer, and a separate fridge and freezer, two Raspberry Pi's, a Tivo on standby in daytime, a Virgin router, a solar inverter and odd bits like clocks on devices and timers. Also I can see usage go up in the evening when the presence sensor kicks in and turns (LED) lights on and off for random periods.

 

[sandra54]

My fixed term ended in the middle of this month and I went onto the new variable Go tariff at
Day - 40.2p
00:30-04:30 - 12p
Standing - 47.99p

I received an email yesterday with the new tariffs from 1st April
Day - 41.7p
00:30-04:30 - 12p
Standing - 53.95p

Not exactly over the moon about it but using my trusted spreadsheet with my average daily non EV/overnight usage of only 6kWh I need to charge 17kWh per week to make Go more economic than the standard variable tariff.

If I was on Intelligent Octopus I would only need to charge 16kWh per week so not much difference really.

If I had an Ohme charger I think I would be switching to OVO right now.

Having just got an MG ZS I was surprised to find the “ cheaper rate “ for 4 hours of Octopus Go meant the other 20 hours were more expensive than my standard tariff! I would actually be cheaper charging at a local ChargePlace charging point at 25p . I switched to Octopus Agile and charge when the rate is lower for a few hours. I’ll see how that works out for a few months.

 

[tsedge]

Having just got an MG ZS I was surprised to find the “ cheaper rate “ for 4 hours of Octopus Go meant the other 20 hours were more expensive than my standard tariff! I would actually be cheaper charging at a local ChargePlace charging point at 25p . I switched to Octopus Agile and charge when the rate is lower for a few hours. I’ll see how that works out for a few months.

Yes, the point of Go is cheaper overnight hours to charge your car and use your energy-intensive appliances, balanced by more expensive for the other 20 hours.

We switched over and with the car, dishwasher and washing machine on in the Go hours we are saving a lot.