@kev-m, I wouldn’t put it past E.ON. From our experience they are a sharkish company. We have had a complaint with their solar PV department for close on three years now. They charged us for kit in our installation - it’s a very long story - that we never received.  

I spotted the irregularities and raised this immediately and they flat out refused to admit to it or even discuss it.

We lodged a complaint with the ombudsman who ruled in our favour and ordered E.ON to provide proof we were never charged for this kit. They continue to deny this and have ignored the ombudsman’s order. We have not made the final payment to them, and when you go through the emails and correspondence it’s scary just how dishonest and evasive they are. When the saga is finally concluded - I’ll post an article on our experience.

There’s a certain level of irony we’ve ended up with them as our electricity suppliers.

I can’t comment on why our tariff hasn’t dropped. I’ve simply followed the directives from their intro emails and our tariff has not dropped. We set up a DD as requested and there’s been no adjustment to the tariff. I expect to receive an answer from them next week, and that will be telling.

An interesting development to future price increases.

"On 3 December, Ofgem released documents showing it estimates that the SoLR process would have cost the new supplier £1.28bn. In comparison, administrators last week estimated that it would cost around £2.1bn to keep Bulb trading until April. The government has unlocked £1.7bn for the administrators to use to cover these costs.

If Bulb is unable to repay any of this loan, ministers will hike energy bills for households across the country to recoup the Treasury’s money. Ofgem previously refused to share the court documents with several publications including the PA news agency. They were only released after the Financial Times and Bloomberg applied to a judge."

THECANARY.CO "https://www.thecanary.co/uk/news/2021/12/04/court-released-documents-reveal-the-cost-of-keeping-private-energy-firms-afloat/?fbclid=IwAR3IMLEc2rQPD9t876L2K8g0pZS-oovrXfdArTcfiBSS-0Lx4pdGlqqKY7E"

Court released documents reveal the cost of keeping private energy firms afloat - Canary

"If the taxpayer can absorb the cost during a crisis, the taxpayer should also reap the rewards once the current crisis subsides"

I can vaguely remember when I worked for the Nationalised Power Industry, when the governing remit was to keep the lights on, and not make more than a 3% profit or a 3% loss. They also had a 5 year and a 10 year plan, to meet the above objectives.

I wonder what the cost of electricity would be now if that had still been the case?

I keep saying this, but I expect gas prices to ‘normalize’ in spring, but there doesn’t seem to be a way for electricity tariffs to rebound anytime soon and that’s going to be massively problematic for existing heat pump owners. Also, trying to convince homeowners to switch to heat pumps with high electricity tariffs is going to be equally testing for the industry.

No reply from E.ON Next so I called them today. Was on hold for ages - close on 40 minutes. I explained to them my tariff hadn’t changed when we went direct debit, and, as suspected, I could sense the dodgy replies. How did you apply for the DD? When did you apply? Did you eat before applying for the direct debit? Five minutes later, the agent, goes, “We’ll, the issue is you applied via the portal and the system isn’t automated to deduct and adjust the tariff”. 

Online systems are built to automate processes like this. What a load of BS. The fact that our tariff wasn’t automated to reduce after the system click over to direct debit is ridiculous. A couple of keystrokes later, our rate was reduced. The standing charge is now in line with the DD cap. The tariff is still 1p over. When I questioned this, they said that’s the lowest rate they can offer. We’re on a variable DD tariff and still over the cap. Sharks.

@editor E-On has lowered my tariff rate from the one originally quoted. The price now matches the variable standard rate for a direct debit. Although still waiting for first billing.

@prjohn, did you have to prompt them or did they do it of their own accord?

@editor They did it on their own accord. I had contacted them about the delay in providing a bill. They simply stated that they are still finalising all the details before issuing bills. 

Utility warehouse still seem to be the cheapest at 20p kWh but it doesn't seem simple to get setup with them as they seem to want to sell you phone/broadband with your energy.

For the moment we are sticking with Eon Next who have reduced our tariff down to 20p kWh. We will have a decision to make in April when the price cap is updated.

Posted by: @george

Utility warehouse still seem to be the cheapest at 20p kWh but it doesn't seem simple to get setup with them as they seem to want to sell you phone/broadband with your energy.

For the moment we are sticking with Eon Next who have reduced our tariff down to 20p kWh. We will have a decision to make in April when the price cap is updated.

Based on previous years the price cap data will be released by ofgem around 5th Feb even though it doesn't come in until April. 

I’ve just read a few articles about electricity wholesale prices and it’s looking like there’ll be another 20-30% increase in October. What’s the strategy? Who’s locking in a tariff for the next 12 months?

I’m getting the following from E.ON. Crazy high standing charge.

OVO Energy is even more expensive for a 12 month fixed rate. Staggering numbers from just 12 months ago.

Unit rate: 34.09p/kWh

Standing charge: 48.43p/day