ESB vs Airtricity vs Bord Gais

markst33

Hi Folks,

with the news from Airtricity of the increases to Electricity and Gas, does anyone know who exactly is the cheapest at the moment.

I am with Airtricity at the moment but I had been looking to change over from them due to them messing up my DD and not collecting for 5 months and then walloping me with a huge bill. They promised that this would not happen again but then there was a problem with their payments system and that resulted in them not charging me for gas for ages and then hitting me with another huge deduction.

The ESB contacted me about changing over to them and I agreed to do it. i asked them to ring me back in half an hour to give me time to get meter readings for them but the Customer Service Agent never bothered.

Then ESB rang me again about 2 weeks later and I explained to them what had happened and said that if this was they way they dealt with prospective customers I dreaded what way they would treat me when I was an actual customer. They apologised profusely and said that if I changed over to them I would be treated as a valuable customer.

So once again I asked them if they would ring me back later to give me time to get meter readings for them. (They already had my MPRN, GPRN numbers which I had given to them during the first phone call). The customer service agent said no problem and that they would definitely ring me back.

Guess what....still no call back. :mad:

So I am looking for information about who of the 3 utility providers are the cheapest or would it be better to have Electricity with one of them and Gas with someone else.

Cheers.

Mark.

Hobbitfeet

Looking for similar info to you just for electricity though no gas.
I think if you have details of your last bills to get your usual usage the best thing is to call other providers and get rates form them you will be able to see any savings if you have you average usage.
We just moved into a new house so don't have this info yet just wondering who would be cheaper for electricity.

cookie1977

At this exact moment right now:
Flogas for gas
ESB for electricity

But things are in flux as they're all increasing costs although the above two will not restrict you to a contract. Only 20days then you can leave

Hobbitfeet

cookie1977 wrote: »

At this exact moment right now:
Flogas for gas
ESB for electricity

But things are in flux as they're all increasing costs although the above two will not restrict you to a contract. Only 20days then you can leave

Might be a good idea to wait till all increases are added then research again

markst33

If you go with Flogas, do you have to get one of those tanks installed, or can they supply you from the mains ?

cookie1977

No I'd switch to them now. ESB have said they wont increase for another while yet but they'll reconsider in October. May as well benefit from cheap rate now while it's there rather than paying more. There's no contract with them

cookie1977

markst33 wrote: »

If you go with Flogas, do you have to get one of those tanks installed, or can they supply you from the mains ?

No tanks. Same gas as Bord Gais just sold by flogas.

scuba steve

cookie1977 wrote: »

ESB have said they wont increase for another while yet but they'll reconsider in October.

ESB are rising 1st of September as well, the rises are from the government, not the 3 seperate companies. So the 3 companies are in the same boat regarding price increases, Bord Gáis went up on the 1st August though. ESB just haven't released a statement yet

cookie1977

scuba steve wrote: »

ESB are rising 1st of September as well, the rises are from the government, not the 3 seperate companies. So the 3 companies are in the same boat regarding price increases, Bord Gáis went up on the 1st August though. ESB just haven't released a statement yet

The rises are not from the government as such, it's the energy regulator who's approved the rises but it's up to the individual companies to decide how much and if (they will) pass it on.

scuba steve

cookie1977 wrote: »

The rises are not from the government as such, it's the energy regulator who's approved the rises but it's up to the individual companies to decide how much and if (they will) pass it on.

Ya the energy regulator. Basically the 3 companies put their energy into the national grid, then have to buy it back from the national grid. Thats what sets the standard unit rate. Each company don't have much le-way on deciding their own standard unit rate but they do have the option to choose what reduction they can give off their standard.

cookie1977

This is not correct. The companies apply to the regulator to increase prices and the regulator decides on this.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0729/1224301563915.html

jor el

Only the incumbent supplier needs to apply to the regulator. So only Bord Gais needs to apply to increase it's gas prices, and only the ESB need apply to increase electricity prices. Other operators can increase prices any time they like, and BG can increase electricity prices and ESB can increase gas prices any times they like.

Bord Gais applied to increase the gas price, which was approved, but they simply announced an increase in electricity prices, no need to apply or wait for approval.

Right now, the best price for gas is with Flogas, and best electricity is ESB.

All operators will increase both gas and electricity prices in the coming months, there should be no doubt about that. Keep looking at the prices, and keep switching to the cheapest.

Bear in mind that the standing charges can vary between operators too, so watch for that one.

cookie1977

Thanks Jorel I should have specified that. Re the standing charges, while some can be dear it may actually be worth considering taking a plan that has higher std charges especially if you use a lot of electricity as some of the companies offer a greater per unit discount with a higher std charge. Someone using a small or average amount of electricity should stick to the base std charge plans with a smaller discount as they wont benefit from the higher discount

Nanazolie

Is there a website that offers energy price comparison?

cookie1977

Personally I go to each providers website and wok out who's best but bonkers.ie is supposed to be good.

jor el

Comparisons here; http://www.bonkers.ie/

The difference in standing charges is very small. If your electricity usage is low, then the standing charge would be a larger proportion of you bill, and then become more relevant.

happydaawg

Check out www.bonkers.ie for price comparisons.
I just did this and it says it is cheaper to have seperate Electricity and gas.
ESB are cheapest for electricity and Flogas are cheapest for gas.