Octopus energy company. Anyone use 'em?

[Condi]

No ideas for a name said:

It has to be a wider problem not just Octopus - I can see a couple of wind turbines a mile or so from here - it is flat calm and has been for quite a long time. From gridwatch it looks like wind has been low since April. Too much reliance on unpredictable 'renewables'?

No, not at all. The reason for high prices is that thermal generation costs are high, and that is what drives the longer term market, not so much the renewable output. Trying to suggest that this is anything to do with renewables is either a red herring or totally missing what makes the market move.

Quite simply, if your cost of generation is twice what it was last year, no gas or coal unit is going to dispatch until the price is above £X. The "spark spreads" (ie profit the gas generators make) are actually not that high, it's just that input costs are high so output costs have to be high too.

[superpp]

sjg said:

As Agile tracks wholesale prices (except for the artificial 4-7pm peak) there's going to be some big increases coming across the board.

I've been wondering for a while how long Go can stay at the current rate, although mine has just renewed and is fixed until June 2022.

[eliot]

superpp said:

I've been wondering for a while how long Go can stay at the current rate, although mine has just renewed and is fixed until June 2022.

I bailed on Agile to Go in April - and have locked in the pre-rise rate of 13.45p until next year. I think it everyone can expect big hikes soon.

[pingu393]

No ideas for a name said:

[]

I'm sure there must be some clever people who could link things like car chargers and tumble driers to the inputs for that graph and only switch on the circuit when the price is below a pre-determined level

[/ ]

[eliot]

pingu393 said:

No ideas for a name said:

[]

I'm sure there must be some clever people who could link things like car chargers and tumble driers to the inputs for that graph and only switch on the circuit when the price is below a pre-determined level

[/ ]

Yes all that exists right now. When we had price plunges on agile (negative prices) I could muster about 10kw of load and would wake up in the morning about £2 in credit. Those days are long gone, indeed with agile anything under 15p feels like a win - whereas last year you could expect 5p or less overnight

[gazapc]

After trying to stick with it I also bailed on Agile yesterday and went for Go. 16p per kwh during the dsy - better than my average agile rate for the last month!

Last year was great for Agile. Hopefully can switch back at some point.

[JD]

I thought this might be a good thread to ask this in.

I am currently with Octopus and have a meter with Economy 7.

Getting a PHEV soon so trying to work out if I should switch over to the GO tariff.

Does anyone know how to find out when the meter changes between day and night?

I can find no mention of anything on any bills or my account online, it all says it will be written on the meter which it isn't.

[craigjm]

JD said:

Does anyone know how to find out when the meter changes between day and night?

Your supplier will tell you as it varies on location and supplier. It is usually 11-6 or 12-7

[Evanivitch]

JD said:

I thought this might be a good thread to ask this in.

I am currently with Octopus and have a meter with Economy 7.

Getting a PHEV soon so trying to work out if I should switch over to the GO tariff.

Does anyone know how to find out when the meter changes between day and night?

I can find no mention of anything on any bills or my account online, it all says it will be written on the meter which it isn't.

Octopus GO requires a smart meter, not a Economy 7.

GO is 4 hours between 0030-0430h
GO Faster can be 3-5 hours, but slots can be between 2000h and 0600h I think.

[Groat]

Having just had the same result for about the 30th time in a row, I was wondering if anyone, ever, has "won" anything on the amazing Octopus Wheel of Fortune??

[Up_North]

Evanivitch said:

Octopus GO requires a smart meter, not a Economy 7.

GO is 4 hours between 0030-0430h
GO Faster can be 3-5 hours, but slots can be between 2000h and 0600h I think.

You think correct. I’m on 20.30-01.30 so can also switch on washing machine and dishwasher without having to work out how the timer works!

[Up_North]

JD said:

I thought this might be a good thread to ask this in.

I am currently with Octopus and have a meter with Economy 7.

Getting a PHEV soon so trying to work out if I should switch over to the GO tariff.

Does anyone know how to find out when the meter changes between day and night?

I can find no mention of anything on any bills or my account online, it all says it will be written on the meter which it isn't.

You’ll definitely save using Go. The day rate for Economy 7 in my area is 20p, it’s 15p on Go.

I put this together showing charging costs for some tariffs. The bit at the bottom shows costs for a typical day usage for me - EXCLUDING charging.

[PF62]

Evanivitch said:

Octopus GO requires a smart meter, not a Economy 7.

GO is 4 hours between 0030-0430h
GO Faster can be 3-5 hours, but slots can be between 2000h and 0600h I think.

20:30 is the earliest for Go Faster (I have 5 hours at 5.5p from 20:30 to 01:30)

[MrChips]

I've just come off my fixed rate with Scottish Power and am looking at Octopus. Stupid question time... the Go tariff is only 15.56p per kWh even in peak time, compared to 18p on the other tariffs i'm being offered.

What's the catch? Even if I don't make use of the overnight lower rates?

[PF62]

MrChips said:

I've just come off my fixed rate with Scottish Power and am looking at Octopus. Stupid question time... the Go tariff is only 15.56p per kWh even in peak time, compared to 18p on the other tariffs i'm being offered.

What's the catch? Even if I don't make use of the overnight lower rates?

There isn't. Theoretically Go is for EV drivers and although I have an EV they didn't ask me for any proof.

[HughG]

MrChips said:

I've just come off my fixed rate with Scottish Power and am looking at Octopus. Stupid question time... the Go tariff is only 15.56p per kWh even in peak time, compared to 18p on the other tariffs i'm being offered.

What's the catch? Even if I don't make use of the overnight lower rates?

The daily standing charge is higher, 25p/day instead of ~17p on the fixed tariff we had with them before.

[eliot]

HughG said:

The daily standing charge is higher, 25p/day instead of ~17p on the fixed tariff we had with them before.

If you are chugging the power, like me with a 700w background draw and running a hot tub - the trick is to focus on the unit price and not so much on the standing charge.

[Evanivitch]

MrChips said:

I've just come off my fixed rate with Scottish Power and am looking at Octopus. Stupid question time... the Go tariff is only 15.56p per kWh even in peak time, compared to 18p on the other tariffs i'm being offered.

What's the catch? Even if I don't make use of the overnight lower rates?

In my case the standing charge went from 20p to 25p.

Meaning I didn't have to do much to get my money back I was at one point drawing 11kWh for the car alone. Plus dishwasher, plus washing machine etc

[JD]

Up_North said:

You’ll definitely save using Go. The day rate for Economy 7 in my area is 20p, it’s 15p on Go.

I put this together showing charging costs for some tariffs. The bit at the bottom shows costs for a typical day usage for me - EXCLUDING charging.

Thanks Guys, My current E7 is 16p/8p and I already have a Smart Meter

I rang Octopus to try and move over to the Go Faster Tariff, but they said on the phone there may be no more availability of spaces on any Go Faster, and didn't actually know the answer.

I was given an email address to write to, but haven't heard anything back as yet.

[Bikesalot]

Groat said:

Having just had the same result for about the 30th time in a row, I was wondering if anyone, ever, has "won" anything on the amazing Octopus Wheel of Fortune??

Won £2 once...