Price-cap increase 1 October 2026
Everyone on a Standard Variable Tariff, like OVO's Simpler energy, will have been warned to expect an increase on 1 October and again on 1 January 2027. Not everyone will have checked to see just how the increase affects them.
OVO's rates usually stick pretty close to the price cap, so the official tables are a good guide. They're on this gov.uk page - it's large and quite complicated, so it takes a few moments to work out what's what and how to find it:
Energy price cap unit rates and standing charges | Ofgem
Non-gas households only have to bother about the electricity prices. This is what the tables say for me in the East Midlands:

In July-September 2026, VAT is 5%. In October 2026-March 2027, VAT is zero.
Using the Future Annual Consumption estimate from the Plan page, we can work out the annual cost before and after 1 October:
Before:
1155 kWh x 23.55 p/kWh = £272
365 days x 53.05 p/day = £194
Total: £466
After:
1155 kWh x 24.05 p/kWh = £278
365 days x 53.05 p/day = £186
Total: £464
So my estimated annual cost actually goes down by an insignificant £2 inc. VAT as a result of the price-cap increase and zero-rating VAT.
This may be encouraging for customers in a similar situation. It could well be that it’s a completely different, and less cheerful, story when we repeat the exercise at the end of November, when we know what the price cap will be from 1 January 2027.
Moral of the story: Do your own sums!

