Switching electric/gas providers (see first post for links)

Gooser14

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120885851#Comment_120885851

Even then they were misleading customers by not stating the daytime unit price is higher with a day/night meter than with a 24 hour meter.

Buffman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120881885#Comment_120881885

Based on their current rates, even a 20% reduction by most of them wouldn't even come close to the 24hr Flo BWG/Community rate of 30c, let alone beat it.

tx_tx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120886021#Comment_120886021

Compare like-for-like. Community is a discounted offer, not Flogas regular rate.

Others also have discounts, we're seeing a return of 15% or 20%, and my guess is, at the same time that they'll reduce rates for all existing customers, they won't go as far as they could in that respect, but instead they'll increase discounts available to switchers as well.

So, take their rates, cut say 15%, add a 20% discount, and then you can compare to Community. Actually, not entirely. Because Community locks your rates for 12 months, while other providers have variable rates, and may have further rate cuts in a few months.

Core6

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120885835#Comment_120885835

The reason for the slow take up of Smart plans is that they aren't financially attractive.

Incentives do work. Look at the uptake of electric vehicles. That is largely due to the €5,000 grant, reduced VRT, domestic charge point grant of €600, zero BIK for company vehicles. Taxi drivers get huge Incentives hence there are a large number of taxi BEVs. The grants can be reduced or stopped once there is momentum.

Everyone is suffering from increased electricity costs and it has become a talking point and changes in costs up or down is headline news.

If there were adequate Incentives for Smart plans there would be much greater interest and take up.

enfant terrible

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120884240#Comment_120884240

Do you have to pretend you are a BWG customer when you ring up?

OmegaGene

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120886107#Comment_120886107

bwg offer is currently not available as far as i know and you now need to use the community offer which is the same just a different title

tx_tx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120886087#Comment_120886087

Well, I don't know. Because currently, most people are on non-smart 24Hrs. That means, they can switch to Nightsaver if they wish. Nightsaver has attractive plans, and if you're willing to change your habits, you can make it work really well. In fairness, there are good incentives for Nightsaver. In the current context, do people switch to it, or do they simply keep complaining? Why would it be different for Smart?

With a car, you have to change it from time to time, and then you look at what's on offer. With electricity, you can stay with the same supplier all your life. There's more inertia.

CoBo55

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120885932#Comment_120885932

And higher standing charge. I always thought that Ad was geared towards storage heaters.

CoBo55

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120886138#Comment_120886138

Well, I've been trying for the last year without success to get a night saver meter installed.

tx_tx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120886246#Comment_120886246

Yeah, I don't remember your story, but it's not like your situation explains why people stick to 24Hrs.

Buffman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120886071#Comment_120886071

That might be the case if there was any actual indication of rates dropping, all that we have now are rumors and conjecture. There is zero pressure or incentive for any of them to drop rates significantly, if at all. The Dail is off now until the 20th of Sep, there will be no political 'pressure' on them, not that there was much to begin with.

It is nice to see some of the <10% sign up discounts coming back. A quick check of bonkers suggest SSE has the largest % at the moment at 15% so I'll take their figures.

Their current (all VAT inclusive) undiscounted 24hr rate is 48.24, 161% higher than Flo 29.99. Their 15% discounted rate is 41.01, 137% higher than Flo 29.99. So any reductions will have to be massive to beat the 29.99 rate.

If anyone is sitting on the fence at the moment paying <40c per kWH waiting for a significant drop in rates, chances are they'll be left waiting.

And I think being locked into the low 29.99 Flo rate for the year is a positive in the current volatile price climate as it means it can't increase either. If by some miracle anyone beats it significantly enough to warrant a switch before the year is up, the €50 exit fee will be €50 well spent.

Back in April I exited a contract with days left on it to ensure I got on the 29.99 rate, the €50 exit fee was saved back in the first bill and I'll save 100s based on what I would have been paying on the next 'best' available plan.

CoBo55

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120886297#Comment_120886297

I switched in April too and BG didn't charge me the 50 fee, huge difference in the first bill, as you say it gives certainty over the winter.

tx_tx

You're still confusing wholesale prices volatility with retail prices derived from past prices through hedging. Retail prices direction is predictable and they won't shoot up instantly in the event we have a harsh Winter. Price transmission takes time.

tx_tx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120886951#Comment_120886951

Absolutely. If you care, you can find a previous post in this thread that details the latest series of price hikes. There was a delay of about 12 months IIRC.

con747

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120886107#Comment_120886107

Don't ring them, most here who did were told the offer was either over or they weren't eligible. Sign up online if you can.

enfant terrible

Is that community offer available to smart meter users?

Tried googling but can't see any smart plan with it.

Core6

I heard one expert talking about the Rocket and Feather syndrome regarding energy pricing.

The price goes up like a Rocket but falls like a Feather!

I think we are seeing this syndrome in action.

0ph0rce0

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120887174#Comment_120887174

I cant really remember the "before the Ukraine war bullshit" I'd need to go into the bills but I'm sure I was on about 20c a unit with no discounts. The hedging thing is a load of bollocks too. A quick goggle says they don't hedge 1,2,3 years in advance because they'd loose a fortune, it's more like months.

30-40c will become the new base price and we'll just say ok.

I'm actually amazed that it's gone off the radar. They have pretty much gotten away with it.

Government wont do **** all because they reap the vat rewards. Double the unit means double the vat and whatever other levy they have on it.

con747

The government is going to throw more money at the public instead of dealing with the suppliers according to Michael McGrath on the news. It's fairly obvious now we are just being screwed by everybody not just energy suppliers.

bobcatboo123

Was also tricked into a smartplan somehow. EI home electric +

Has anyone successfully signed up fora lower cost smart plan with flogas?

Sheep Shagger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120884735#Comment_120884735

Thanks, yeah prefer doing it online so will try a day or two before we come out of contract. Just hope the community deal or similar is around the start of September.

Keith186

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120885560#Comment_120885560

In fairness, it is mentioned at the top of page 2 on the link. If you change, you can't change back. Appreciate that the full implications may not be clear unless you've heard something about it before.

I do think it's not highlighted enough, which of course is in their interest. I would have thought there could be big savings for some moving to smart plans if they managed their usage at the right time but it's doesn't seem to be the case at all. I had a smart meter installed recently but definitely won't be changing to a smart plan anytime soon with the way it is now, but it does make me think what are they planning to make a proper reduction in peak to 5-7pm. At the moment there's no incentive to switch but I would say when nearly all homes have smart meters they'll have to come up with some plan to make it worthwhile.

I'd doubt it's cheaper to switch every meter in the country to a smart one just so it can auto send usage vs employing meter readers to read twice per annum, they'll be waiting a long time for the payback.

Luxembourgo

I signed back up to Bord Gais but want to switch.

Do I cancel contract first and then switch? Or just go ahead and switch and they take care of it for me.

Do I have any risk of being cut off if I cancel

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120887490#Comment_120887490

The man who's party sold off our electricity network to private interests to enable them to make profits is now criticising those private interests for profiteering... Use your votes in 2024 and 2025 folks

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120888914#Comment_120888914

The carbon tax was introduced as a measure to be a deterrent to fossil fuels, not a revenue raising measure

There was even talk a few years ago that every household would get a payment equivalent to whatever was raised on the carbon tax, less carbon spluttered means a lower household payment but the govt coffers get nothing

zell12

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120889062#Comment_120889062

Just switch.

Buffman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120886611#Comment_120886611

Thankfully I'm 100% sure my prices won't go up during the winter no matter what happens, even if I was confusing wholesale with retail, which I'm not.

I'm not exactly sure what you're actually suggesting for people to do? It sounds like your advice is to wait around possibly paying <40c per unit on the off chance that prices drop soon? If that's it, my counter advice is to move to the best deal you can get now, don't worry about fixed terms, keep an eye on the market and if it becomes financially beneficial in the future to switch while still in contract, it will be €50 well spent.

I really do hope prices drop substantially, I'm just not willing to waste €100s waiting around for it to happen.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120887490#Comment_120887490

Ye, I heard him. They 'expect' prices to come down but are still making plans for more supports in the budget. Very contradictory, if they knew prices were going to come down they wouldn't need more supports. That's a very large indication that they don't expect any serious drop in prices any time soon, the budget is October and then we're into winter.

Also, there is now no reason for energy companies to announce anything before the budget as they can now just sit on their hands and wait around to see how much money the government is going to give them.

banie01

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120883544#Comment_120883544

Thanks for the advice, done and dusted now for 12 months. Spoke with EI before I switched and their "best" was their 8.5% discount. Weirdly, the agent I spoke with was also adamant I'd recontracted with EI in January. I had not, my last recontract/provider switch was in Sept 21.

I'm waiting on an email back from EI confirming same and that no cancellation penalty is applicable.

Also moving the In-laws over to the Flogas plan later this week.

ELM327

Signed up there to the community plan over the weekend as my last fixed price (28day /8 night) ended, fixed here to 33/14 for 12 months. Higher night rate but lower fixed charge and higher export payment. Not bad.

Still loving life on my MCC02 day night meter, which I will defend to the deatH!

ELM327

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120889359#Comment_120889359

The electricity network remains in state ownership.