Massive standing charge inflation- why?

Thanks very helpful. But sadly this doesn't explain why OVO has put standing charge up in 2 years by 145%. 

The chart above suggests Ofgem have recommended a ~50% increase.  

The numbers do not tally. 

It must just be OVO....

OVO is only required to cap the Standing Charges for Standard Variable Tariffs. If you’re on a Fixed Rate Tariff, OVO can legally charge whatever they want since you have to explicitly agree to be charged that rate before OVO can make you pay it.

Which months are you comparing? You’ll see that there’s an enormous difference from January to December 2022.

There are big differences in standing charges around the country. The differences were much less last year than this, but I can’t work out from the figures you quote which region you’re in. 60.31p/day is pretty close to the GB average, but rates vary from 40 to 72p depending on where you live; some regions saw the standing charge fall on 1 April, while others saw a significant increase. There are also different rates for those who pay by Direct Debit and those who pay on demand. And, of course, they don’t apply to fixed-rate tariffs, as Blastoise points out.

Ofgem’s figures aren’t recommendations: they’re mandatory limits that no supplier is allowed to exceed. I can well believe that you’re seeing a major increase, but we’d have to have precise details (payment method, region, dates and rates, including or excluding VAT) before we’d be able to explain where the increase comes from.

Hi

I looked back over the (total annual) standing charges on my account (dual fuel, economy 7). Since Jan 2022 they have increased by 73% (133% if I go back to Jan 2021).

Jan 2021    £135.77
Jan 2022    £182.85
Apr 2022    £263.74
Oct 2022    £276.02
Apr 2023    £290.25
Jul 2023      £290.25
Oct 2023    £290.20
Jan 2024    £292.99
Apr 2024    £316.86

As @Firedog states the standing charge is set by the regulator (OFGEM) and not OVO and mine do match (or in some cases are slightly less than) the OFGEM maximum.

OFGEM ran a review of standing charges earlier this year, https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/launch-review-standing-charges-energy-bills, but sadly you have missed the boat. The closing date for comments was 19th Jan.

I see this lie from OVO time and time again.

OFGEM do NOT SET PRICES - they set PRICE CAPS.
You can charge whatever you like UP TO THE CAP.
You could charge a penny if you wanted to.

Your decision to charge AT THE CAP - i.e. AS MUCH AS YOU LEGALLY CAN is entirely a decision made by you to serve your own interests at the expense of customers.

Please stop repeating the lie that OFGEM set prices. They do not.

This thread is focused on the standing charge which is set by Ofgem as mentioned above

Also… Inside voice please! You might wanna try turning Caps Lock off from time to time…

AFAIK neither OVO nor any Forum Volunteer/Forum Moderator on the OVO Forum has ever made claims that Ofgem directly sets prices, as BPLightlog just mentioned, this thread that you just gravedug (arguably for no beneficial reason) wasn’t even related to what you posted anyway.

In future, please try to review threads properly before posting!

• I got my data from here: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/energy-price-cap
  
  which starts with:
  
  “The energy price cap is the maximum amount energy suppliers can charge you for each unit of energy and standing charge if you're on a standard variable tariff.”

Is it wrong?

I might wanna try that, but it turns out I don’t. And on the price cap claim, this is an extract from an OVO email I got two days ago:

“The energy price cap set by the energy regulator, Ofgem, is increasing on 1 January. Here's what this means for you.”

_ Well, I guess it doesn’t say that they changed the price in line with Ofgem’s instruction, but it seems to imply it. Doesn’t it?