Alternative Energy Suppliers

discostu1

I saw this in the Times this morniing,are they saying if someone like me who is with BGE cancels and gets the wife/partner to set up our acount would get the big discount and then the following year get 10% ok year 3 I might be back with ESB but thats years away or am I miss reading

Bord Gáis changes pledge on price cuts

• CONOR POPE

BORD GÁIS Energy has dropped its promise to undercut the ESB’s domestic energy prices for the first three years of operation and blamed the energy regulator for moving too quickly to deregulate the State’s energy market.
When the company first entered the domestic market in February 2009 it said it would charge customers who switched from the ESB at least 10 per cent less in the first year and at least 5 per cent in years two and three.
Speaking to The Irish Times yesterday, however, Bord Gáis Energy’s managing director David Bunworth said the company had changed its terms and conditions and was now offering a 10 per cent discount in year two but would make no commitment on discounts for the third and subsequent years.
“We are now going to concertina the two 5 per cent discounts into one year,” he said. “Effectively we are saying that we are going to give the people the money up front.”
The company says it has been forced to alter its three-year price commitment because the domestic energy market is to be deregulated next year, after which the ESB will be in a position to compete on price with both it and Airtricity.
The Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) sets prices for ESB but its competitors are allowed to undercut these charges. The CER has said it will deregulate the domestic electricity market when the ESB’s market share falls to 60 per cent which is expected to happen by early next year.
Bord Gáis Energy currently has 400,000 customers and is signing up about 950 new customers each day. Airtricity has about 100,000 electricity customers.
Mr Bunworth denies the truncating of the pricing commitment is a breach of faith. “It was a moral more than a physical contract but the rules have changed. It was based on regulated prices.”

Antrim_Man

Think I will switch again from BGE to Airtricity for my leccy and gas. I can see this might be a regular activity

Kotek Besar

Me have Airtwicity for leccy and Flogas for gas. Don't like feeding de fat cats.

discostu1

Me have Airtwicity for leccy and Flogas for gas. Don't like feeding de fat cats

Nothing wrong with those choses Kotek I am moving to Flogas myself but Airtricity are owned by Scottish and Southern and FLogas are owned by DCC they dont come any more fat catish

Kotek Besar

discostu1 wrote: »

Nothing wrong with those choses Kotek I am moving to Flogas myself but Airtricity are owned by Scottish and Southern and FLogas are owned by DCC they dont come any more fat catish

Yes, I suppose you have a point there. It's just that I'm a Pepsi and not a Coke drinker.

dagpoker.com

i just changed from Airtricity to Bord gáis. i cant handle Airtricity any more there billing is crazy and they keep ripping me off and anytime i get on the phone tothem there customer care is the WORST i have ever came across

Our man in Havana

Keep away from their budget plan and you will be fine.

Kotek Besar

Haddockman wrote: »

Keep away from their budget plan and you will be fine.

I like the Airtricity budget plan very much.

• I know exactly how much my payments are each month so can budget accurately.
• I can keep an eye on my consumption and can request the monthly payment to be increased or decreased accordingly.
• I know exactly how much I've paid at the end of the year.
• I know exactly how much electricity I've used at the end of the year.
• Any plus or minus is reconciled.

Personally, I pay €80 a month to Airtricity on my budget plan. I know that my usage is roughly €75 a month, so the slight overpayment is fine by be (I wanted it that way).

Our man in Havana

Of course the budget plan works well for some people like yourself, but most of the gripes about Airtricity overcharging etc seem to stem from people who signed up for the budget scheme and then used more electricity than planned. When they get an adjustment bill they think people are ripping them off.

Kotek Besar

Haddockman wrote: »

Of course the budget plan works well for some people like yourself, but most of the gripes about Airtricity overcharging etc seem to stem from people who signed up for the budget scheme and then used more electricity than planned. When they get an adjustment bill they think people are ripping them off.

So it's customer stupidity then, if I may say so.

Ooh look, I was paying €70 a month with the ESB, Airtricity are only charging me €30 a month! What a saving!

(six months later..)

What?! A bill from Airtricity for €200??!! The robbing bastards! What a rip-off!

Tim M-U

Kotek Besar wrote: »

Yes, I suppose you have a point there. It's just that I'm a Pepsi and not a Coke drinker.

i think my contract of discounts with at is over now so will move to bge. they are supposed to have great customer support, from what i can see mostly..

groomek

I've just had a sales man at my door asking me to switch to Airtricity.

He stated than I would save a total of 23% if I switch both elec and gas to Airtricity.Has anyone switched,and advice on what to do.Are their savings correct or are their figures just exaggerated

misslt

We switched and saved a lot.

Really happy with them.

Went from ~€40 to €12 per month!

We're in a one bed apartment and not in it during the day, but it was a huge saving.

WIZE

Call Airtricity
http://www.airtricity.com/roi-domestic/

customerservice@airtricity.com
t: 1850 40 40 70

groomek

WIZE wrote: »

Call Airtricity
http://www.airtricity.com/roi-domestic/

customerservice@airtricity.com
t: 1850 40 40 70

Cheers for the contact details but I am looking for peoples experience on dealing with Airtricity and their claims on their promise of reducing bills if I was to make the switch

Max Power1

beware! If you sign up for gas and electricity with them, you only get the one bill. (as opposed to getting a seperate bill for gas and electricity)

devil-80

Its about 2,08 cents for unit difference between BG and ESB so depends how many units we use we can save up some money ( I dont know how much Ill use because i just move in 2 wk ago) .
My question is: IS it worth it to switch for BG or Airtricity (some guy is walking today around my area and asking me do i want to switch for Airtricity) if you have 3 bed house?
Can you go back later to esb without any problems?

Thanks

Our man in Havana

Can you go back later to esb without any problems?

Yes. You can go back at any time.

I.K.Brunel

devil-80 wrote: »

My question is: IS it worth it to switch for BG or Airtricity (some guy is walking today around my area and asking me do i want to switch for Airtricity) if you have 3 bed house?


Thanks

A typical 3-bed family home will use about 5,000 units in a year so your total savings for a full year should be a little bit over €100.

I.K.Brunel

groomek wrote: »

I've just had a sales man at my door asking me to switch to Airtricity.

He stated than I would save a total of 23% if I switch both elec and gas to Airtricity.Has anyone switched,and advice on what to do.Are their savings correct or are their figures just exaggerated

obviously the salesman is putting a bit of a spin on the figures: you can save up to 13% on electricity (excluding the standing charge!) and up to 10% on the gas (also excluding the standing charge). It's mathematically incorrect to present this as a total saving of 23%, but hey that doesn't stop the salesman's patter if he thinks he might get you to sign on!

jor el

misslt wrote: »

Went from ~€40 to €12 per month!

That can't be real. The saving is 13%, not 70%. Read above posts about the Budget Plan. Read your meter, and make sure you're not underpaying.

The savings are real. With Airtricity, you get 10% off the unit gas price (compared to standard BG price), and 13% off the unit electricity price (compared to standard ESB price). No discount to the standing charge, so beware of that. Standing charge is about €17 every two months for electricity, and about €11.50 for gas.

They do force you to the direct debit payment, which some people don't like, especially if you're bill sharing.

The discounts also only last for a limited period, sometime in 2011 I believe. There is no contract though, so don't believe them if they say there is. You can change provider at any time, or switch back to your original one.

We've been complaining about the high prices for electricity and gas in this country for years, and now that there's a cheaper option finally available, people still complain about pushy sales reps and a whole host of other irrelevant things. There's no reason why most people shouldn't change, you can't lose, unless you foolishly allow estimated bills to pile up on you, but that can happen with the incumbent operators just as easily, and has many times.

I.K.Brunel

jor el wrote: »

There is no contract though, so don't believe them if they say there is. You can change provider at any time, or switch back to your original one.
QUOTE]

Of course there's a contract (even if you actually don't sign a piece of paper) - and for example the terms are not exactly the same as offered by ESB e.g. notice periods when quitting, surchartges for overdue accounts, etc.

Our man in Havana

notice periods when quitting

There are none.

Neeni

Haddockman wrote: »

Yes. You can go back at any time.

CER ruling states that you have to stay with a Supplier for 20 working days before you can switch back or to another one. I am in a two-bedroomed house (with one other person) - we both work all day so our bills aren't huge to begin with. Switched to Airtricity last august - wasn't impressed!

As our bills are so small the savings weren't terribly significant. Also I found their standard of customer service really really frustrating - minor mix up with my postal address which was forgivable but took 6 phone calls (three of which I had to ask to be escalated to a supervisor) to get it sorted.

My next door neighbour also switched around the same time (their sales people are very pushy). Neighbours ran into financial difficulties and ended up getting disconnected with a balance of less than 200euro!! ESB are waaayyyy more leanient and far more understanding when it comes to money problems!

Whilst there is a minute saving to be made - however much we like to complain about the ESB, they have the experience and attitude that the newer Suppliers are completely lacking in.

jor el

I.K.Brunel wrote: »

Of course there's a contract (even if you actually don't sign a piece of paper) - and for example the terms are not exactly the same as offered by ESB e.g. notice periods when quitting, surchartges for overdue accounts, etc.

No, there are no contracts. You can change provider any time you like, and the notification is as long as it takes the other provider to switch you over (typically takes a few weeks).

If your account is overdue, then any penalties will be up to the provider. This is not something you should normally take into account, unless you plan on not paying your bills.

I.K.Brunel

Sorry jor el - you're not correct.

All 3 suppliers to householders operate a contract with terms and conditions (it’s a CER condition of Licence that a Supplier must have T&Cs which are approved by CER). Here’s a few extracts taken from the T&Cs documents on the websites of ESB, BGES & Airtricity:



ESB: These conditions and the application form, form a legally binding agreement (the 'agreement') between us and you. This agreement will start when we accept your application, you get a Connection Agreement and the supply is energised.

BGES: (a) We will sell and supply electricity to you at the Premises subject to these Conditions until the Contract is ended by either of us in accordance with Condition 12 (Termination).
(b) If we do not already supply the Premises, we will begin supplying the Premises on the date the MRSO notifies us we are the Supplier and the Contract will commence on that date.

Airtricity: We’ll supply electricity to the Supply Point at the Address from the Start Date until termination if:
a) we have authorisation under our supply licence;
b) we agree to accept you as our customer under this Agreement; and
c) the transfer of your supply(ies) to us is/are successfully completed.


Payment of Accounts
ESB: You must pay every bill we send you, including an estimated bill, by the date shown on that bill. We may charge you interest if you do not pay the bill by the due date. You may have to pay in a particular way in order to meet our credit terms. We will charge VAT at the appropriate rate.

BGES: If you do not pay us any sum due under the Contract you will be liable to pay us interest from the due date for payment at a daily rate equal to 2% above the Bank of Ireland AAA Overdraft Rate then in force or, if there is no such rate, then an equivalent rate, accruing on a daily basis until payment is made.

Airrtricty: If any payments are late we may charge you (i) interest at the rate of 3% per annum above the current European Interbank Overnight Rate and (ii) reasonable costs of trying to recover overdue payments.



Termination


ESB: You may apply to end the agreement by giving us seven days' notice. As long as you let us into the premises, we will disconnect or de-energise the supply on the date you ask us to or as soon as possible after that. You will have to pay for the electricity you use up to the date we disconnect or de-energise it.

BGES: You may end this agreement by giving us 28 days notice by telephone or by writing to us (in accordance with Condition 17) and by paying the amount due for all electricity used up to the date of such termination and for any other charges and obligations in your tariff or services that we have agreed to provide to you under this Contract.

Airtricity: The supply of electricity at any Supply Point may be discontinued:-
(a) on the day requested, provided that:
i. on the day of termination, either another supplier has already started to supply electricity to the Supply Point or the Supply Point has been disconnected; and
ii. if we agree (where permitted) that no monies remain outstanding from you;
(a) on the date you no longer own or occupy the Address, provided you give us at least 2 working days’ prior written notice and a meter read for the day of termination. Otherwise it will terminate on the first to occur of:
i. the second working day after you’ve given us written notice provided that you have given us a meter read for the day of termination; or
ii. the day that the meter(s) at the address is next read; or
iii. the date that electricity is supplied to the address by another registered supplier.

Kotek Besar

Love the colours, I.K.Brunel. Roll on 14:15! C'mon!

jor el

You have an agreement, not a contract. There is no minimum term, and you can switch at any time you like. OK, so there's 28 day notification to BG required, it takes longer than that to switch anyway.

A change of provider is not quite the same as a termination anyway, as you're still going to want your electricity/gas supplied to you, not terminated. You don't need to contact your existing provider when switching, the new provider will take care of all of that for you.

Our man in Havana

BGES: You may end this agreement by giving us 28 days notice by telephone or by writing to us (in accordance with Condition 17) and by paying the amount due for all electricity used up to the date of such termination and for any other charges and obligations in your tariff or services that we have agreed to provide to you under this Contract.

I certainly did not give them any notice when I moved to Airtricity. I simply moved. I received a final account from BGE which closed my account. There were no charges for terminating with out notice whatsoever.

I was switched in 10 days for the record.

dahamsta

I think jor el was pretty clear in saying that ESB are more forgiving when it comes to missed payments. In fact I'm pretty sure that's almost exactly what they said, but I suppose there's no getting in the way of an anal retentive.

Anyway, I came here with a question myself: who's best for customer service these days. Last time I looked, which was admittedly a while back, BG had a terrible rep, but my personal experience with Airtriticy hasn't been the best. Would I be better off switching back to the ESB for the sake of CS? I've just moved into an A rated house so my bill should be pretty low from this point forward.