Alternative Energy Suppliers

Lex Luthor

So any idea which of the 2 new players would be better for me?

BGE or Airtricity?

Currently with ESB. I'm not using gas as I am on oil. SO no saving for the existing customer with BGE.

From what I've been reading BGE guarantee min. 10% saving on year 1 and 5% year 2 & 3. An extra 2% for going DD. Am I right so far?

Airtricty seem to offer 12% discount with DD or 13% with the eBill? Can someone explain the eBill and for how long Airtricity are offering these savings?

One last thing. Are these discounts based on being % lower than the current ESB rates over the next few years?

Fnergg

Lex Luthor wrote: »

....From what I've been reading BGE guarantee min. 10% saving on year 1 and 5% year 2 & 3. An extra 2% for going DD. Am I right so far?

Airtricty seem to offer 12% discount with DD or 13% with the eBill? Can someone explain the eBill and for how long Airtricity are offering these savings?

One last thing. Are these discounts based on being % lower than the current ESB rates over the next few years?

The 10%+ discounts offered by BGE and Airtricity apply until January 2010.Thereafter, they will, they say, offer savings in the region of 5% against the ESB price. That shouldn't be difficult as the ESB is forced by the Regulator to keep its prices higher than its competitors in order to foster competition in the domestic market.

eBilling is getting your bill by email as against the traditional paper bill through your letter box. You will get an email reminder when the bill issues and if you really need a paper copy for your files you can just print one off.

The ESB has a similar approach with their eBilling system. Other companies (e.g. Eircom) send both a paper bill and an electronic one.

So, which supplier should you go for - BGE or Airtricity? Doesn't really matter from a price perspective. The months ahead will show if there are any serious billing and/or customer service issues with these companies. They are getting a significant number of new customers. Let's hope their billing systems and customer service offerings will be up to scratch.

Regards,

Fnergg

rco2000

Heroditas wrote: »

Yes that rumour is true. However the company haven't made a final decision yet. They're weighing up the options as to whether it's worth the trouble.

Why don't you name the "rumoured"/alleged new entrant?

edtrvl

Untense wrote: »

When this thread was originally started Airtricity were offering 10% discount (excluding Vat).
They're now offering 13% (Including Vat) for Domestic Customers, and are now also giving the same guarantee to match ESB prices as BG are providing.

They are also by far the greenest option.
So, on that final point I am going to go with Airtricity. I will still make great savings over what I was paying, with the bonus of having sweet dreams of polar bears tap dancing on ice bergs, knowing I'm now spewing 2 tonnes of carbon less per annum.

There's no green option I'm afraid! Have you seen these ugly wind-farms destroying our landscape and ecosystems in the sea... Airtricity green! Joke! :rolleyes:
One of the solution would be that every household should be self sufficient energy-wise and have a 'green house effect heat management system', it's own wind turbines, solar panels to heat-up water and produce electricity, but it would mean to switch all electricity appliances to 24v, 48v or thereabouts as 220volts wouldn't be required any more... But we're very far from that at present, electrical appliances aren't available in low voltages, there's no real political incentive and it would also mean that the government wouldn't collect it's precious vat anymore...
For the time being the cheaper the better: BG (until I fit these solar panels and these batteries somewhere around the house...):o

Cabaal

edtrvl wrote: »

There's no green option I'm afraid! Have you seen these ugly wind-farms destroying our landscape and ecosystems in the

Actually you'll find most people don't mind the sight of windfarms when compared to goal, peat or gas powered generation stations next to their house, I'd hardly call them destroying our landscape

dahamsta

What Cabaal said. I've never understood the objections to wind farms, they're bloody windmills for god's sake, people have been admiring windmills for centuries. They also serve a critical purpose for a country like Ireland, which is probably one of the best-suited countries on the planet for wind power.

And yes, being self-sufficient at home is a solution, but in order to succeed we need to move away from this pie-in-the-sky airy-fairy one-stop-shop thinking and grasp that correcting our dependence on fossil fuels needs to have a multi-pronged approach. Hydrogen fuel cells aren't going to do it, sustainable living isn't going to do it, tidal power isn't going to do it, but all of those things and more just might.

adam

Davy

One thing that people dont seem to like about the wind turbines is the sound they make. I has never bothered me when near them, but i dont live beside one to really notice it as much.

hellboy99

Heroditas wrote: »

Yes that rumour is true. However the company haven't made a final decision yet. They're weighing up the options as to whether it's worth the trouble.

Heard something myself today about it from a reliable source and looks like plans are going ahead, should hear about very soon

jaffa20

As a tenant, do you think it would be ok to switch over to Bord Gais? I have an account number with bord gais and have paid the 200euro deposit. Hoping there wouldn't be any more fees. Haven't actually received an esb bill but only a welcome letter from them.

broadsheet

Why all the cloak and dagger about a possible new entrant?

Spit it out....

mike65

80,000 make the switch

http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0319/energy.html

veryangryman

I made the switch a month back and got a bill from ESB a fortnight ago...

Do i assume that my next bill will be with Bord Gash?

Has anyone got a bill from them yet?

Cabaal

veryangryman wrote: »

I made the switch a month back and got a bill from ESB a fortnight ago...

Do i assume that my next bill will be with Bord Gash?
?

If the last ESB bill was your closing bill then yes you next bill will be from BG, it says it on the bill that it was a closing bill

also you should have gotten letter from ESB customer supply saying goodbeye and a welcome letter from BG...least I did

BDPinDublin

I'm thinking in switch from ESB to Airtricity. Does anyone have updated information about their services and the impact on bills?

Fnergg

mike65 wrote: »

80,000 make the switch

http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0319/energy.html

I note the comment: The Secretary General at the Department of Communications, Energy & Natural Resources, Sarah White, said there is still a long way to go before ESB's dominance in the market is reduced. ESB currently has a 95% share of the electricity supply market.

What remains unclear is how much ESB will have to reduce its market share before it will be allowed to compete on an even basis with the other suppliers. Will an 80% share be deemed sufficient? 70%? 60%? 50%? 40%?

In the meantime ESB customers will be forced to pay more for their electricity than customers of other suppliers not because the ESB wants it that way but because the Regulator/Government needs to ensure "competition" takes hold.

That's fine if you have the means to switch to another supplier but choose not to. However, there are many customers - those without bank accounts (so Direct Debit is not an option) and who are not able to cough up the deposit being sought by Bord Gais and other suppliers for first time customers. In other words, large sections of socio-economic deprived customers who will have no choice but to stay with ESB. They will be paying more for their electricity than their better off citizens who can avail of the cheaper prices by switching. I find this type of social exclusion in the interest of promoting "competition" disturbing. The very people who could benefit the most from cheaper electricity are effectively being denied the opportunity to do so.

Needless to say, Bord Gais and Airtricty don't want such customers. They are expensive to manage - their accounts regularly go into arrears, there are significant costs involved in following up for payment, etc. What Bord Gais and Aritricity want are customers who pay by direct debit and who rarely or ever need to contact them. (And if a Bord Gais/Airtricty customer does prove troublesome due to unexpected financial hardship etc., the company can terminate the customer's contract and tell him/her to go back to ESB. ESB, as the Public Electricity Supplier, can't do that).

So, the poor will pay more for their electricity for the fore-seeable future ("there is still a long way to go") than their better off fellow citizens. That offends my republican sensibilities.

Regards,

Fnergg

Emerald Lass

kleefarr wrote: »

Just finished applying online. Took about 10 minutes. Supplied a meter reading and waived the cooling off period, so should be saving as of NOW!

just a bit of inside knowledge - there is up to a 60 day back log on orders to switch. so you might be with ESB for a while yet, so bear that in mind.

vodaphoneproblem wrote:

Was also told that if I apply online it could take up to 60 days to go through! You would think they'd employ a few more sales staff!

they have employed more staff - in a way. the ordering and sales are outsourced to Conduit and they have taken on extra staff. In fact there are orders processed 24hrs a day, as there is a night shift on as well. But the response was FAR FAR greater than BG ever imagined - they expected a max of 500 sign ups in the first week - they got over 8000! Last I heard there was at least a 20000 backlog on orders, and that is with staff working 24 hrs!

As for those of you worried about the tenant deposit - a but of advice from someone in the know (don't ask how, just trust me! lol) if you are a tenant, just order online and choose the 'homeowner' option. TRUST ME this is NOT checked as there is no way to confirm it. All that is checked is the direct debit details and your MPRN/ESB supply details. There is no way to check if you own your house.

Eurorunner

BDPinDublin wrote: »

I'm thinking in switch from ESB to Airtricity. Does anyone have updated information about their services and the impact on bills?

13% cheaper on unit electricity price - so long as you agree to direct debit and bill leveling (they average out your bills throught the year - but in effect you pay for what you use at the end of the day).
Bord Gais - is 14% - but only for those who are existing bord gais customers.

I've gone with airtricity and will review rates again next year and stick with them only if they're still offering the cheapest rates.

Fnergg

Emerald Lass wrote: »

just a bit of inside knowledge - there is up to a 60 day back log on orders to switch. so you might be with ESB for a while yet, so bear that in mind.


they have employed more staff - in a way. the ordering and sales are outsourced to Conduit and they have taken on extra staff. In fact there are orders processed 24hrs a day, as there is a night shift on as well. But the response was FAR FAR greater than BG ever imagined - they expected a max of 500 sign ups in the first week - they got over 8000! Last I heard there was at least a 20000 backlog on orders, and that is with staff working 24 hrs!

As for those of you worried about the tenant deposit - a but of advice from someone in the know (don't ask how, just trust me! lol) if you are a tenant, just order online and choose the 'homeowner' option. TRUST ME this is NOT checked as there is no way to confirm it. All that is checked is the direct debit details and your MPRN/ESB supply details. There is no way to check if you own your house.

Excellent post Emerald Lass. I agree completely with your advice regarding the homeowner option. Anyone applying should indicate he/she is the owner of the property - nobody checks that. So, save yourself the cost of the deposit.

As regards the backlog of 20,000: my information is that about 20,000 have been successfully switched to date i.e they have received their closing bills from the ESB and are fully set up on the Bord Gais system. However, there is a backlog of 70,000 odd which is going to take some time to process from the Bord Gais end. This will mean that for many of those customers their first Bord Gais bills will be for considerably more than the usual two months.

By the way Emerald Lass: can you confirm that Conduit are only responsible for BGE's ordering and sales and that Fexco in Killorglin are responsible for their customer service? As far as I know, Conduit had been doing BGE's customer service up to about a year ago but lost the contract to Fexco.

I hope Fexco have staffed up sufficiently to meet the demand of the almost additional 100,000 customers that BGE will have before long.

Regards,

Fnergg

Emerald Lass

Fnergg wrote: »

By the way Emerald Lass: can you confirm that Conduit are only responsible for BGE's ordering and sales and that Fexco in Killorglin are responsible for their customer service? As far as I know, Conduit had been doing BGE's customer service up to about a year ago but lost the contract to Fexco.

I hope Fexco have staffed up sufficiently to meet the demand of the almost additional 100,000 customers that BGE will have before long.

Sorry Fnergg, have no knowledge of that bit. Just have knowledge of conduit. As for the backlog - the website back log is only at about 20,000 - the phone orders etc are higher. A lot of customers give wrong details - mainly bank details. Also my inside source tells me that the system Conduit use for the phone orders is poo! the web order system is much better - she tells me that for eg in one hour there is an average of 30 orders per agent processed, and only an average of 12 per agent of the phone orders cos the system is so cumbersome! so it appears that all in all the web is the way to go!

threeleggedhors

If you changed to Bord Gais and say there was a problem with you power line would it be ESB or Bord Gais you would be calling to carry out the repairs and if it was ESB then I'd assume they might not respond quite so quick if you were with Bord Gais ?.

Anybody got the T&C's yet ? Minimum contract ?? Etc....

Davy

threeleggedhors wrote: »

If you changed to Bord Gais and say there was a problem with you power line would it be ESB or Bord Gais you would be calling to carry out the repairs and if it was ESB then I'd assume they might not respond quite so quick if you were with Bord Gais ?.

Esb networks would be fixing the problem for you. They don't know who you are a customer off so it doesn't matter who you are with they are obliged to fix it for you.

Cabaal

Davy wrote: »

Esb networks would be fixing the problem for you. They don't know who you are a customer off so it doesn't matter who you are with they are obliged to fix it for you.

unless your problem for no power is a billing issues ESB Networks don't give a crap who you get your power from, be it ESB customer supply, BG, airtricity etc

Its all scaremongering to say you'll be screwed if you have a fault

Davy

Cabaal wrote: »

unless your problem for no power is a billing issues ESB Networks don't give a crap who you get your power from, be it ESB customer supply, BG, airtricity etc

Ofcourse of you dont pay a bill, but you should know that yourself

Cabaal wrote: »

Its all scaremongering to say you'll be screwed if you have a fault

Yes it is. Esb networks have standards to maintain, and keep to keep customer minutes lost to a minimum, while also delivering the customer charter as the cer enforces.

keefg

Having just received my gas bill this morning of 330 euro :mad: i am wondering why Bord Gais can't be as active reducing their gas prices as they are at trying to rob customers from ESB? :mad:

Max Power1

keefg wrote: »

Having just received my gas bill this morning of 330 euro :mad: i am wondering why Bord Gais can't be as active reducing their gas prices as they are at trying to rob customers from ESB? :mad:

As the incumbent supplier in the domestic gas retail market Bord Gais Energy are in a similar position to that of ESB customer supply in electricity - their prices are set by the CER and are artificially higher than need be to try to encourage competition in the domestic gas market. The market has been fully open since mid last year but there are no new entrants to the domestic supply market (to my knowledge)

Kotek Besar

Maybe the ESB will start selling gas.

Then I might buy gas from ESB and lecky from Bord Gáis.

Times are hard, and it's not nice being poor.

dahamsta

That'd be funny if the joke hadn't been made a half dozen times already in the thread.

God help us from competition in the gas market is Calor is the best alternative. Incompetence is an understatement for those guys.

Kotek Besar

I think as jokes go, it's not really the funniest any hoot, if I'm honest.

But yeah, competition is always good.

dodzy

mike65 wrote: »

I got my last ESB bill and "sorry to see you go" letter yesterday and the "Welcome to Bord Gas" letter today. So they are not taking long if you signed up online.

Signed up 1 mth ago. Received a bill from ESB this morning, issue date 23.03. Rang BG and enquired. They said anything from 15 - 60 days for the switch to be processed. He mentioned that this timeframe was on the website.

I also pointed out that at the time of my online application, I inputted the actual meter reading. He told me that this doesn't matter as that reading wuold have expired at this point.

I basically put it to him that it was a pointless addition to the application page, and misleading to interested customers who would be led to believe that the actual cost saving could be accrued from that point.

"Correct" he said. I'm sure I'm not the first who has pointed this out to him. Bugger:mad:

Fnergg

dodzy wrote: »

Signed up 1 mth ago. Received a bill from ESB this morning, issue date 23.03. Rang BG and enquired. They said anything from 15 - 60 days for the switch to be processed. He mentioned that this timeframe was on the website.

I also pointed out that at the time of my online application, I inputted the actual meter reading. He told me that this doesn't matter as that reading wuold have expired at this point.

I basically put it to him that it was a pointless addition to the application page, and misleading to interested customers who would be led to believe that the actual cost saving could be accrued from that point.

"Correct" he said. I'm sure I'm not the first who has pointed this out to him. Bugger:mad:

This is appalling customer service from Bord Gais. As you say, it is misleading customers. When you supply your own reading - as requested by Bord Gais - you should be transferred as from that reading. That is standard practice. Just because Bord Gais cannot cope with the backlog of applications doesn't mean that customers should be penalised. At the very least I would demand some kind of ex-gratia credit on my account when I eventually get my first bill from them (if it isn't from the reading I supplied).

Regards,

Fnergg