Posted by: @chandykris

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@jamespa The optics look terrible though for Octopus Energy to increase prices just three weeks after they came down. I just checked that the fixed Go rates are still the same for my region. I wonder whether this is a strategy to nudge people on variable smart tariffs to move to the fixed equivalents.

To the first point I agree.  I guess that their thinking was, we have to demonstrate a price fall in April, but we cant actually afford it long term so by leaving the rise until May we are easily able to illustrate the effect of the war.  It sort of makes sense actually, probably also from a political PoV as it separates out the effects.

To the second point, quite probably.  I had planned in Feb to get a car charger and move form OG to IOG, but the rate comparison made no sense (it was more expensive in April to be on fixed IOG, which was all that they were offering,  than on variable OG).  So I didnt do so and continue with my granny charger.  Now the switch makes more sense, depending on the view of risk that electricity prices will rise/fall/stay the same.  

All in all a mess caused by circumstances completely outside UK control.

@chandykris I fixed on cosy last September at about 14.5 and it came down to 10.7 a few weeks ago. It’s only a £25 penalty to exit but it finishes in September but it doesn’t help me as I export about 10mWh over the summer.

im waiting for IOF to restart again as 12p export is killing my system profit which I need to pay for the heat pump over the winter. Im in limbo at the moment, can’t decide if I switch to a different supplier to get 15p export or wait for octopus or Tesla to start their VPP scheme. 100green do a better tariff, 9p import and 15p export, but I’d probably need more battery capacity. Bloody orange coloured tw@t, quite pleased that uk.gov is not all in with them and will hopefully swing us back into closer EU ties again as the US is a dying empire, thankfully.

Posted by: @papahuhu

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 uk.gov ... will hopefully swing us back into closer EU ties again as the US is a dying empire, thankfully.

I'm jolly glad I don't have to make that decision which, either way, has been made politically toxic!  It may be getting easier but if uk gov were to go this way it's not difficult to work out what will be on the front pages of many newspapers and all over social media for months, probably from now unitl the next election.

Posted by: @papahuhu

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@chandykris I fixed on cosy last September at about 14.5 and it came down to 10.7 a few weeks ago. It’s only a £25 penalty to exit but it finishes in September but it doesn’t help me as I export about 10mWh over the summer.

im waiting for IOF to restart again as 12p export is killing my system profit which I need to pay for the heat pump over the winter. Im in limbo at the moment, can’t decide if I switch to a different supplier to get 15p export or wait for octopus or Tesla to start their VPP scheme. 100green do a better tariff, 9p import and 15p export, but I’d probably need more battery capacity. Bloody orange coloured ****, quite pleased that uk.gov is not all in with them and will hopefully swing us back into closer EU ties again as the US is a dying empire, thankfully.

Same here.

I wonder if Octopus may reintroduce IOF as a fixed tariff with an exit fee to stop the likes of you and me switching back and forth between Cosy in winter and IOF in summer.

At the moment I'm still on variable Cosy and 12p SEG from the winter. We would have switched to IOF at the beginning of April. Last year we averaged 26p for our export on IOF, so that's a large drop and like you will have quite an impact on our overall annual bill.

For now, I'm sitting tight. My concern is that if I leave Cosy whilst this tariff lockdown is still in place, I may not be able to get back on in October and that would be equally punitive for us. I'm waiting to see what Octopus do, and if Tesla Electric offer a tariff similar to IOF although there would be the same concerns switching back and forth to Cosy in winter, but this time between two suppliers.

@papahuhu We would like to get on Octopus Flux too. As we don't have a compatible battery, we can't get IOF. Given our South West PV array orientation, most of what we export happens during the peak 4 pm to 7 pm. This is even without exporting from the battery, and just from the PV arrays. I was hoping to move to Flux in April after switching off the heat pump. Our EV is hardly charged from end of June to September as there are no school runs. We would have made enough through exports to balance the high usage in the winter months. Well, at least we are getting 12p export rates. Hope that's not slashed further.

@old_scientist Same too here as well. Shouldn’t have any grid consumption to speak of over the next few months but the export rate of 12 pence will not build much of a buffer for next winter’s ASHP consumption either🤨.

Have had a reply to my email to Greg; Tega replied and here is an extract:

“Thank you for taking the time to share such a thoughtful message, and for your kind words about what we’re trying to achieve, it genuinely means a lot. It’s also great to see how engaged you’ve been with our different tariffs over the years, and how effectively you’re using your home setup with solar, battery storage, and a heat pump.

I completely understand the point you’ve raised. While our EV tariffs are designed with electric vehicle charging in mind, the underlying idea, rewarding customers who can shift their usage to off-peak times is exactly what you’re describing.

Although I’m not directly involved in the specific tariff design, I’ve made sure your feedback is shared with the relevant team. We’re always exploring ways to make our tariffs more inclusive and better suited to different types of households, especially those who can help reduce strain on the grid during peak times.

In the meantime, i can see you're already on Cosy which currently is the closest fit for customers who can shift their energy usage based on pricing signals.

Thank you again for your message and for being such an engaged customer.“

Regards, Toodles.

I wonder what fully electric households do? Those with EV's, heat pumps and solar/battery. Unless they have sufficient battery capacity to run the heat pump all day in winter, I see a conflict between the cheapest overnight rates for charging the EV and the most economical tariffs for running the heat pump. Maybe they just go large on their battery capacity and go for the cheapest overnight tariff, but there is a definite conflict between large EV usage and large ASHP usage, and their respective tariffs. Octopus' tool suggests IOG if you have a compatible car/charger or Flux/IOF if you have a compatible battery.

I guess V2H/V2G may solve some of these issues, as once the car returns home from work in the evening, it can power the home until the overnight cheap rate period starts again, so the house battery would only need to cover the period from the end of the overnight cheap rate until the EV returns home in the evening (assuming our EV driver works 9-5). But then you're looking at charging a car and a house battery in a short overnight cheap rate window which is going to seriously stress the import, especially when everyone has gone electric and we are all trying to do the same thing!

@old_scientist We are a low mileage home, so bulk of our electricity usage in the winter is for the heat pump. We doubled our battery storage last spring, so Go has been similar to what Cosy would have cost us. Surprisingly, we exported a bit more last year on Cosy as the battery gets topped up again from 1 pm to 4 pm, and once it's full we exported more in March and April. Now that our off-peak period ends at 5:30 and the batteries gets discharged more until afternoon, we exported less this year in March. That pattern is repeating again in April. Also double the battery size means it's using more from solar to fully charge. Having said that overall grid usage has dropped as we are not importing more to top up the battery on Cosy rates. Overall, Go has been the best tariff for us despite the EV using only about 1/6 of HP usage.

@toodles 

The octopus comms has been poor about tariffs, they haven’t even indicated what needs to change before they restart IOF. I’ve waited a month, but still no end in sight. The conflict could easily continue for 6 months or more. So this morning I switched, given we have zero import April to October I decided to go with the highest export I could find and that was ecotricity at 16p kWh with a variable import. It’s not so convenient or user friendly as octopus, but it’s going to make about £500 difference which I need to pay for my thirsty winter heat pump usage. I’ll switch back to a TOU in October. With my accumulated credit from last year I should still be able to see the winter out with zero bills, which was my original intent.

@papahuhu I have noticed of late that within the OE App, under ‘Usage’ we no longer have any details of the extortionate standing charges. All that appears is the energy prices now. As you say IOF has not just taken a back seat, it has been put in the boot and locked away now. Regrets, Toodles.

@toodles 

Yes Octopus customer services was very upfront, they told me it is was 50/50 whether IOF and OF ever returns even if wholesale costs stabilise. Shame, as I really didn’t want to leave, but I’m a tight arse.

I don’t know how one business can offer a 25% higher export rate than another, it’s either viable or it’s not.

If TOU tariffs disappear this winter, I’m left with little option but to reinstate our gas.

Posted by: @papahuhu

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If TOU tariffs disappear this winter, I’m left with little option but to reinstate our gas.

I very much doubt that ToU tarifs are disappearing any time soon, the suppliers and the grid have real problems to deal with namely the evening peak and the nighttime lull, and neither of these is changing in the foreseeable future.  Economy 7 was around in the 70s and current EV tariffs are essentially the same.

The relative rates and the precise timings will of course change with demand, but the basic principle of trying to encourage us to use electricity when its plentiful and not when it isnt is a vital part of grid balancing as we electrify.

And I wouldn't, at present, be placing bets on the winter price of gas at present either!  The Orangeman's attention span is now clearly exhausted and there will be petrochemical companies that are rubbing their hands in glee.  Continuation of the war, with the occasional random intervention, allows the insider traders (allegedly) to make money at our expense.  Food shortages, perhaps starvation, will likely hit Africa first, probably then Europe, but hey what does that matter, they declined to help out.  Thanks to the excursion Iran has now realised that it has a much more powerful weapon than anything nuclear, which is also much cheaper and much more flexible.  The ordinary people in Iran are suffering, but they never counted anyway.  The poorer American people will also suffer, but that can be advantageous in the short term - they are anyway losers and with a bit of luck, particularly given the suspension of much healthcare, many will die, relieving the rich of the unnecessary burden.  Alternatively, if they dont die, their desperation will provide a ready source of slaves (abolition of slavery was so woke!).  Ok it wont help out with popularity, but that's sunk anyway so the next best thing is to maximise nest-feathering while the sun shines.  Whats not to like about the current situation?

Posted by: @chandykris

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We are a low mileage home, so bulk of our electricity usage in the winter is for the heat pump. We doubled our battery storage last spring, so Go has been similar to what Cosy would have cost us

Same here (except we have no battery).  Furthermore Go is simple, Cosy complex.  If you have a battery or a large slab and UFH I can see that Cosy is great, otherwise im not so sure.  If you have no EV then Go is in principle ruled out, although I dont see why they really need to do this and anyway - can they really tell (with intelligent Go they can, not so easy with pure Go).