For me its best to stay on 21p till April as we are heavy users at roughly 3,800 kWh per month in the winter months.

Posted by: @prjohn

There is a price increase of approx 6p for electricity and gas 2.5p. As gas is the major cause of this increase it feels as if electricity users are being penalised more.

 

when you make electricity from gas you will have losses. However a good chunk of electricity is still green levys which should, if things made sense, be on gas bills not electricity bills.

@batalto 

I think in time those levy’s will be on gas bills. In the short term given 80% of UK homes are heated by gas it would exacerbate fuel poverty if they were switched as part of these changes. Considering gas has gone from 2.56p to 7p in 12 months vs electricity 16.5p to 28p.

‘Interesting’ policy of £200 off bills but a debt paid back over 5 years, big gamble that prices don’t continue to rise. 

There is only a 4 times multiple between the price of gas and electricity on the price cap now. That is without switching any of the levy from electricity to gas. The increases have been dramatically more in gas. 

My current multiple is 5.56.

We are getting close to heat pump running costs being comparable to mains gas for more households. That is perhaps one positive.... 

@mattengineer How much would the £200 mean to the consumer, especially when consumers are still trying to cope with last year's increase. All the £200 does is reduce some of the burdens that consumers are facing. As you say there is potential further increase over the years plus £40.

Posted by: @jeff

There is only a 4 times multiple between the price of gas and electricity on the price cap now. That is without switching any of the levy from electricity to gas. The increases have been dramatically more in gas. 

My current multiple is 5.56.

We are getting close to heat pump running costs being comparable to mains gas for more households. That is perhaps one positive.... 

That's exactly what I was thinking.  Factor in even 90% efficiency for gas and it's even closer.  We just need the installation costs to come down a bit now.

Posted by: @prjohn

There is a price increase of approx 6p for electricity and gas 2.5p. As gas is the major cause of this increase it feels as if electricity users are being penalised more.

 

Not in percentage terms. Our present electricity is going up from approximately 20p to 28p, which is in the region of a 40% increase. Our gas price is going up from approximately 4p to 7p, this is a 75% increase.

Prior to the collapse of our previous supplier our costs, excluding standing charges, were:-

Electricity at 16.15p giving an overall increase of approximately 74%.

Gas at 2.99p giving an overall increase of approximately 134%.

Posted by: @batalto

Posted by: @prjohn

There is a price increase of approx 6p for electricity and gas 2.5p. As gas is the major cause of this increase it feels as if electricity users are being penalised more.

 

when you make electricity from gas you will have losses. However a good chunk of electricity is still green levys which should, if things made sense, be on gas bills not electricity bills.

A Combined Cycle Gas Turbine Power Station is approximately 50% efficient. An Open Cycle Gas Turbine Power Station is in the order of 35% efficient.

Both OVO and Octopus have written recently about the issues with the way the wholesale electricity market works at the moment with the current issues. 

Even without the levy they both say that when the price of gas goes up, the price they are paying for green electricity is currently also going up. They are basically currently paying the same price for electricity irrespective of the source of the electricity. They say this will change longer term but that is the reality at the moment for them. Basically green energy generators are also benefiting they say as they are getting paid more. The price of green energy is detached from the cost to create the green energy at the moment. 

This is from Octopus today

"Why would a supplier who sells 100% green tariffs be impacted by high fossil fuels prices?

Because of the (very flawed) way the market is currently set up, sadly not, though as the grid gets greener, this should change. The price power sells for is dictated by the going rate for all different types of energy. At the moment, all energy sources in the UK, from wind to solar to fossil fuels, are being sold based on the high price of gas imports – the higher price of 'brown' electrons artificially putting up the price of 'green' ones as well."

@jeff 

That is because there is no such thing as green and brown electrons. When suppliers offer supposedly green energy, they are often purchasing carbon offset certificates, and as with any other commodity it suffers from supply and demand issues. The more companies that want to purchase the certificates, the more expensive they are going to be.

@derek-m And these certificates can be used to purchase "green" energy from abroad. 

Posted by: @prjohn

@derek-m And these certificates can be used to purchase "green" energy from abroad. 

I'm not certain exactly how the system works, I can only assume that as green energy is being produced, it also generates a certificate, and unless there is some sort of fiddle, there can never be more certificates than green energy. The market for green certificates will possibly operate alongside the actual energy market, over a 30 minute period. So if there is an excess of wind power in say Germany, the excess certificates may be purchased by some of the UK suppliers. The electrical energy doesn't actually flow from Germany to the UK.

Obviously, when there is less green energy available, the price of the certificates will increase. Since solar and wind produced energy is no doubt cheaper than gas fired power generation at the moment, then all the suppliers will be vying to purchase it, hence increasing its price.