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Tim_OVO
OVO Staff
OVO Forum Legend
August 5, 2022
Blog

What’s happening with energy prices? Let’s take a look.

  • August 5, 2022
  • 30 replies
  • 3343 views
What’s happening with energy prices? Let’s take a look.

Updated on 17/06/25 by Emmanuelle_OVO:

Need any extra support with your energy bills? These topics offer some helpful advice:
 

 

 

Ofgem’s energy price cap limits what you pay for gas or electricity on a variable rate plan. You can see the latest information regarding the price cap levels and date changes on the Ofgem site here.

 

The way energy suppliers set prices is impacted by:

 

The price cap – set by Ofgem, the energy regulator. This limits the amount customers on variable rate plans will pay for each unit of gas and electricity and sets a maximum standing charge.

 

The Energy Price Guarantee – provided by the government to help households with energy costs during the energy crisis. It’s a discount on gas and electricity prices and is in addition to the price cap. It applies to both variable and fixed rate plans. If the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) is above the level of the price cap, it won’t impact prices for anyone who pays monthly. 

 

What this means if you pay monthly for your energy

 

If you're on a variable rate plan, your unit rate and standing charge will change on 1st January, April, July and October, in line with the new price cap. We’ll write to you to let you know if this impacts you personally. Your actual bills will still depend on how much energy your home uses.

 

If you're on a fixed rate plan, the price cap doesn't affect prices for fixed-rate plans. We're keeping your prices as they are for the length of your contract to protect you from any price increases.

 

What this means if you Pay As You Go for your energy

 

All Pay As You Go prices are variable – these will change with the new price cap on 1st January, April, July and October.

 

Now's the time to send a meter reading

 

This will make sure your energy account is up to date. You can submit a meter reading now on your online account or through our app. If you’ve got a smart meter, you don’t need to send a reading. The smart meter will send this for you.

 

Priority Services Register

 

Need extra support? We can offer free help if you’re ill, have a disability or have a medical condition via our Priority Services Register.

 

Support available for customers who may be struggling with their bills

 

Here’s how you can apply for our Customer support package

Here’s our guide on debt and energy assistance.

 

Citizens Advice: Visit your local branch, or their websites: for England and Wales and for Scotland. You can speak to an adviser online, in person, or over the phone: 0800 144 8848 (England), 0800 702 2020 (Wales), and 0800 028 1456 (Scotland). 

 

National Debtline: Call 0808 808 4000 or visit their website.

 

Step Change Debt Charity: Call 0800 138 1111 or visit their website.

 

Have any questions about the price cap? See our Price Cap FAQs here.

 

30 replies

Newcomer
August 6, 2022

OK ,  I've just been moved to Ovo , I wasn't actually aware , I just got an email to say I'd been moved . 

I used roughly £18.00 of electricity last month , how will the new fixed rate at £91 a month benefit me ? Are there tariff for low /light users  ... all the fixed rates are more than I can afford . The only thing I use constantly is the fridge , I boil a kettle to wash up and use an electric shower.

Blastoise186
Super User
Super User
August 6, 2022

Hi @Aquamarina ,

Just so you know, I’m one of the forum volunteers, so I can’t access your account directly.

As far as I’m aware, the quotes you’ll be offered are intended to match your usage patterns and history as closely as possible, while also including various other factors. If you’d rather not do a fixed rate, your only other option is to let your current contract expire and move to variable rate automatically - but I would still suggest considering fixed rate if you can. Prices are through the roof either way and I’d rather you were aware of this upfront to help you figure things out. Regardless of what you do, I’m afraid you probably won’t be paying £18 a month for much longer.

Don’t forget you’ve still got the £400 Energy Bill Discount thing on the way as well, which will be applied as account credits over six months.

If you desperately need to have the Direct Debit reduced to below what the system is allowing, the Support Team can assist. And please don’t struggle in silence with energy bills, OVO will help you out if you ask for it. More details can be found here and I promise you that you definitely won’t get in trouble if you ask for OVO’s help so please don’t be afraid to talk to them.

If there’s anything else I can help with, please let me know.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way! Remember, I'm just like you - AI Powered Evil Geniuses aren't Staff!
Jeffus
Rank 20
Rank 20
August 6, 2022

Hi @Aquamarina

It is a worrying time. Like @Blastoise186 i don't work for ovo.

There are a few things we can suggest for you to check if you like?

Firstly on this page on the website rather than the app. 

https://account.ovoenergy.com/plan

You will see something called Future Annual Consumption. This is OVOs estimate of what you will use over a year. Does that look correct? It is used to calculate the estimated direct debit you are seeing in the quotes. 

 

stead
Rank 5
Rank 5
August 7, 2022

Seeing the current plans for renewing is a little scary, variable projections are half the cost and its easy to see when looking at current unit rates.

At the moment I'm on Ovo drive with anytime addon, will the anytime addon keep working at its current price? Basically that is my deciding factor and having just had an Indra smart installed it’s upsetting if I basically loose the advantage after paying out for it to be installed!

I Apricate Ovo are probably loosing money on  my current tariff, ,still 6x increase in gas prices for fixed term is a little scary, was expecting a 4x increase on electric, judging from the the news I can only presume things will get worse before they get better but its still hard to swallow the variable prices being half the cost .. 

Would love variable with anytime drive addon but I understand that doesn’t really work for Ovo!

Newcomer
August 8, 2022

the energy price is growing, but some salaries not. very interesting situation

Newcomer
August 8, 2022

I'll check that out  , I've made switches to LED lights , street lights so I don't need the lights on , I boil the kettle and keep the washing up for one hit. I don't watch TV anymore . The fridge is the only thing on all the time , I time showers and do 2 washes a week, I can't cut back anymore than I have done 

Jess_OVO
OVO Staff
OVO Staff
August 9, 2022

Hi @Aquamarina and welcome to the OVO online community,

 

It’s so nice to see our community members offering some advice and support to help in this challenging time.

 

Have you managed to get logged in to your online account or OVO app (download for Android or iOS) yet? This can really help keep an eye on your account.

 

If you’re worried about the upcoming price increases we’d always recommend getting in touch with our Support Team. They’re here to help you work out the best option for you.

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Newcomer
August 11, 2022

I took out a fixed contract on the 1st August 2022 before I took out the fixed contract my electricity units were 19.02 pence after the 2nd of August they have almost trebled to nearly 53p per unit .

Any advice would be appreciated 

Jeffus
Rank 20
Rank 20
August 11, 2022

I took out a fixed contract on the 1st August 2022 before I took out the fixed contract my electricity units were 19.02 pence after the 2nd of August they have almost trebled to nearly 53p per unit .

Any advice would be appreciated 

Hi @Drizzle.11

I don't work for OVO. I am just a customer like you. A few of us respond with posts where we think we might be able to help.

Unfortunately 53p a unit for electricity looks correct for a fixed rate. Prices have gone up dramatically and are likely to keep going up over winter. Fixed rates are higher than 53p already. 

From your post i assume 19.02p was a previous fixed rate deal.

You can ask to go on the variable price cap rate which will go up in Oct, Jan, Apr. but honestly i doubt that will work out cheaper unfortunately over the period. You have 14 days to do that so would need to phone up tomorrow. 

nealmurphy
Newcomer
Newcomer
August 11, 2022

@Jeffus is correct. 53p/kWh for a fixed electricity tariff is now considered to be a good rate, I'm afraid. October variable cap likely to be around 50p/kWh. We will see how suppliers chose to price their variable tariff, but I can't see many pricing much lower than this.

You could go to the variable but, based on current predictions and the pricing structure that is currently in place, the price could reach 80p/kWh in April 2023.