PV Feed In Tariff

I can see your point. But I feel that’s too complex for most people who want to spent 15mins to save a few hundred quid. And for most people, that’s the level of effort they want. And I was happily that solider before. So I’m not knocking people for it.

I think it’s a very small % that would use the level of functionality, or firstly have the level of interest to get to the Nth degree on it. People here would of course :)

To pull data, Bonkers would need their login for the ESBN smart meter. People would even know they have a smart meter (some people won’t even know maybe), somehow agree to that smart meter data being shared with a 3rd party. Would be a lag to pull the data. Lag for Bonkers to review and assess and recommend the options…. Which means people would leave the Bonkers site and not save their money. APIs (or any tech change) take money to setup and people to support.

Simpler would be better for most. If people are on a smart meter, Bonkers could tell them how to read the day and night usage. Drop that into a formula on their site so would see the average use per night since the meter went in.

I do the same ‘quick and dirty’ approach with my other recurring bills (outside electricity). I do a quick check of our usage, google search if there is a comparison site, call the existing company, tell them I want to leave, and they magically find a better tariff / sweetener. Granted electricity is a larger spend of course these days.

I got the email from Energia users have mentioned above regarding 18c/kWh payment for electricity exported back to the grid today.

It didn't say anything about the quantity of units I would be paid for. I have a day/night meter not a smart meter so am I correct in thinking that that puts me into the "deemed export quantity" category?

I had a quick look at the paper here https://www.cru.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/CRU21131-Interim-Clean-Export-Guarantee-Decision-Paper.pdf on the details of units I would be paid for under deemed export. Am I correct in thinking that this would be the math for my 11kWh (3-phase) system:

MEC (kW): 11

CF: Capacity factor: 9.7% (set by the regulator)

EF: Export factor: 35% (set by the regulator)

PI: Provision interval (hours per year) 8760 = 24x365

Deemed export units: MEC x CF x EF x PI = 3271.42

Price: €0.18 (set by Energia)

Total payment per year: 3271.42x0.18=€589 ?

Then tax exemption is on first €200 so €389 of it is taxable right?

Yes I'm on 3 phase, I upgraded my supply in order to both get an 11kWh EV charger and to be allowed to install the 11 kWp solar system. As you mentioned the fact that I'm 3-phase keeps me in the microgeneration scheme. My NC6 form has already been sent in and processed.

You don't have to pay tax on the whole amount when you go over the threshold, that's not how income tax works. You pay your marginal rate of income tax on the amount above the threshold. You will need to self-declare this income.

Has anyone actually received payment of/credit for their FIT?

I was expecting to receive a credit yesterday, for the period since February 2022. It was to be based on deemed export because we've no smart meter. That was the deal made with my supplier when I signed on with them in early August 2022. I talked it through with the agent in detail at that time and the call was recorded. ESBN have confirmed NC6 has been in place since before Feb 2022.

Yesterday the bill arrived with no credit.

Today I rang my supplier and they said that the tariff:

1. Would not be paid (by them) for the period before I signed up with them, that I should talk to my previous supplier about that, and
2. Would not be paid for the period after I signed up with them because I was "eligible" for a smart meter (situation in my area of Dublin is that no-one has or has been offered smart meters, I a year or so ago asked ESBN to be a smart-meter early adopter but have heard nothing back).

I hope that not all of the suppliers are behaving in this way. It would signal once again that these things are not to be taken seriously in Ireland, and would need a concerted challenge.

I told my supplier that I won't be paying my bill until this is resolved to my satisfaction.

Not good. Which supplier is this?

100% agree. For sure, they should give a recommendation of a better plan at least once a year - certainly ahead of the renewal / contract ending. But we all know they want you to be out of contract on the higher rate. Or they would auto-roll the contract you had, and not move to a standard (dearer) tariff. Same for your mortgage, any large recurring bill..with other providers. Difference here is of course between what they are forced & regulated to do, and willing to do (even if that means a lower margin).

I move every year on Bonkers (unless existing provider is the best after that search) so every supplier has a massive churn of customers the way it is now. And losing + adding new people has a cost to them of course. Anyways, we'll all in agreement on a better path :)

I switched to this provider in August 2022. The sales agent said they would backpay the FIT to February 2022. I asked him why they would do such a thing and he replied that was an offer they were running at the time.

to be fair i think the human you get on the phone is a bit hit and miss for ANY service provider in any industry these days. That promise doesnt make a lot of sense tbh. Im guessing wether its recorded or not you would never win that argument.

However I would love you to name or at least PM me the name of that supplier please. I am chasing one of the majors for my NC6 acceptance over a month now with zero response. I am expecting that my supplier which is EI are going to do their best to duck out on any payment whatsoever.

Done (PMd you the name).

Please let us know how you get on with EI. To me, there's something particularly unfair about trying to avoid these payments in the current "environment." If that's going on on a widespread basis, the regulator and media need to know.

Left EI for Energia at end of August, sent 5 emails regarding FIT due to me, not a word out of them but they were quick to charge me 50e for breaking contract.

Have you got that in writing? If not, forget about it. Just an incompetent staff member telling you porkies and probably not even knowing it.

Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence...

Ah to be fair malice and incompetence aren't necessarily mutually exclusive.

It's rare that you have a totally unmotivated and disinterested employee who happens to be great at their job, it's often the case that it leaks through into their performance

Not saying this is definitely the cause here, but let's be honest, working in a call center is a pretty awful job. I know two people who've worked those types of jobs and they had nothing good to say about them

I think you're right to not expect much out of anyone working there. To the majority of people working there, I imagine the job is a daily grind with the paycheck being the only redeeming feature