Has anyone heard about the new 1st July Energy charge changers yet?
Best answer by Abby_OVO
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Where can I find my tariff unit rates following the July 2023 Price Cap changes?
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Userlevel 7
+5
- Plan Zero Hero
- 2279 replies
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23 June 2023
Why don’t they just list the standing charge and unit rate instead of all this average household nonsense. No other prices are marked up like this. It’s like just like pulling into a petrol station and the price listing saying the average person will spend X on petrol a year if they filled up here instead of price per litre!!
Userlevel 7
+1
- Plan Zero Hero
- 6458 replies
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23 June 2023
They do, at https://plans.ovoenergy.com .
If you chuck in random postcodes, you can get the entire country.
Yes, sorry. I meant when listing the EPC and EPG.
Userlevel 7
+1
- Plan Zero Hero
- 6458 replies
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23 June 2023
Ahh… Yeah, that’s unfortunately too complicated to do I’m afraid. The page would just be a giant messy table if they did that.
I disagree
They should just list the standing charge and price per unit. People aren’t as stupid as they think. We know that if a loaf of bread cost 50p then if we buy 4 loaves it will cost us £2 if you instead tell us the average person spends £60 a year on bread that doesn’t tell us how much bread costs!
Userlevel 7
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- Plan Zero Hero
- 6458 replies
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23 June 2023
And then everyone will moan that they’re 0.1p/kWh over the “cap” because they’re in a slightly more expensive region...
Userlevel 6
Updated on 14/12/23 by Tim_OVO:
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.
Hey
Why don’t they just list the standing charge and unit rate instead of all this average household nonsense. No other prices are marked up like this. It’s like just like pulling into a petrol station and the price listing saying the average person will spend X on petrol a year if they filled up here instead of price per litre!!
I understand your thinking on this as at first it sounds like it would be a straight set of numbers but this wouldn’t be the case, and as Blastoise has mentioned, this would become quite messy, and not just for suppliers but the likes of Ofgem and the distribution network operators too, and raise question from people in slightly more expensive regions.
Instead, suppliers are legally required to detail clearly the standing charges and unit rates for every customer on every tariff available to them - so you can see straight away your own rates, the same as if you were to look at the tariffs online, you can view right there what your rates would be, rather than having to go off to another site to find them.
There are a number of reasons why energy prices are different across the country such as; how much energy suppliers can sell to customers in that region, how much energy suppliers buy from the national grid or how much the local energy distributors in the region charge suppliers for that energy.
Rates can also differ slightly by supplier and by tariff, so some tariffs with additional perks for example may have slightly cheaper rates.
The EPC and EPG are always the same for everyone across the country this doesn’t vary at all, so no matter whether someone is in a slightly more expensive region for their rates, they’ll not pay, on average, more than the EPC/EPG for their bills.
In general, most things are cheaper when bought in bulk, and the same goes for energy. Suppliers will spend more in the wholesale markets if they have the customers to sell to.
Some regions use more gas and electricity than others but that doesn't necessarily mean that their supply will be cheapest.
I’m sure that these processes are reviewed and thoroughly discussed before coming to the decision to set things up in this way.
There’s a good link here to a helpful Uswitch page if you’re interested.
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