Today the Chancellor has made his Autumn budget statement.
In April 2023, the Energy Price Guarantee will increase for the average household from £2500 up to £3000 per year.
In March 2023, we will also see the Energy Bill Support Scheme (£67 rebate) come to an end, meaning the cost of energy bills will increase.
We understand that this is not the news anyone has hoped for and will likely cause a number of customers, and yourselves, to worry about how they will afford the increase.
There is help and support with your energy bills out there and we are here to support you too.
For more information please visit the 'New government energy bill scheme announcement' over on the blog.
Hi Everyone!
Update 27 Oct 2022: This is an update to let those of you know, who are currently on Fixed tariffs, what will be happening with your prices.
Fixed tariff that is currently set below the EPG rate for your area: If you're currently on a fixed tariff (this will be few of you) that is set below what the EPG rates are as of 1st Oct, you'll remain on this tariff for the duration of the tariff term, then roll onto the standard variable tariff once this comes to an end.
Fixed tariff which is priced above the EPG rates for your area: If you're on a fixed tariff which is priced higher than the EPG rates, the adjustment to unit rates across these tariffs means that we've been unable to alter them down low enough so that you're only paying the capped rates laid out for 1st Oct 2022 - 30th March 2023. Due to this, everyone on these tariffs will now be moved to the Standard Variable Tariff, the Next Flex, so that you'll benefit from the EPG unit rates until 30th March 2023. If this hasn't happened for you yet, you should receive information about this shortly via an email or letter, and any charges will be backdated to 1st October so that you don't miss out.
If you're moved off of your fixed tariff to the Next Flex tariff, you won't pay higher than your original fixed priced contract regardless of what happens in April.
This means if we've had to move you to the Next Flex tariff so that you're paying the government EPG rates and your fixed tariff was due to run, as an example, until 17th June 2023, then you won't pay anything higher than what was agreed on the fixed tariff you had taken out, which we had to move you from, until after 17th June 2023 (please bear in mind, the dates here are an example)
Once we have clarity from the government on what will happen to energy prices from 1st April onwards, we'll be in touch with all of our customers to let you know what will happen next.
Update 19 Oct 2022: On a fixed tariff and your EPG rates don't look quite right? We're updating you on this whilst this is being updated, over on this thread here.
Update 17 Oct 2022: The new Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, has made changes to the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) scheme. The EPG will now run until April 2023. This is a change to the government's plan which had originally announced that the scheme would run for two years. The Chancellor said that there would be a Treasury-led review into how households and businesses are helped with energy bills from April next year. He said support being provided from now until April will not change but beyond that date there will have to be changes. As soon as we have more information on how this will impact our customers we'll let you know.
I know it's been a couple of weeks now that we've been speaking about the Energy Price Guarantee and I wanted to get this post out to provide some more in depth information about what's happening currently and how this will look on your bills, as I know that this hasn't been a very clear roll out for these changes.
(feel free to add your own questions below this post, and we'll be sure to get you an answer, as well as keep this thread up to date should anything change)
What is happening with tariffs?
The decision has been made to move those that are on a fixed tariff to the Next Flex (which was our variable priced tariff, I'll expand on why this isn't so 'variable' anymore shortly) where staying on the fixed tariff may have meant you would be paying more standing charge on either the gas or electricity, so that you're not at a financial detriment.
Some of you may be on a fixed tariff where the standing charge is lower than those that are on the variable tariff as of 1st October. So that you can benefit from this slightly lower standing charge, you'll remain on the fixed tariff for the duration of your original contract, and your unit rates will be adjusted down to be in-line with the Energy Price Guarantee.
Going back to why I referred to our Next Flex tariff as no longer technically being 'variable' is due to the government's intervention with the EPG. The EPG will 'fix' the cost for all gas and electricity customers, across all suppliers, at the same rate (depending on area) until 30th September 2024. We're unsure if this will change should prices fall during this period and would need to wait until we hear this from the government, if this were to happen.
EDIT: I know a few have been asking why some electricity tariffs are showing as higher than the EPG rate of around 34p/kWh, possibly around the 42/43p/kWh mark on electricity for some. The reason for this is because you have an Economy 7 meter, and therefore have a day and a night rate. The government announced rate of around 34p/kWh is based on those who pay by Direct Debit, on a single rate tariff.
How will this look on my bills going forward?
The bills are a little tricky, and I'll explain how this will work below in the hope that this can provide you with some clarification.
On your bill, you'll see a top line called "Energy Used" and will show how many Kilowatt hours have been used and at what cost - this cost will be at the original £3.5k Ofgem price cap firstly.
We must bill you to this price first and then display the reduction on your bill, based on the Energy Price Guarantee.
Please also note, the rates you see on your online account include VAT at 5%, the rates you see on the bill don't as VAT is added at the end.
Underneath, there will be another line called "Energy Price Guarantee" and that will show the same Kilowatt hours and will show the reduction for the Energy Price Guarantee.
Why does it look like this?
On your bill, we're showing you what the original price is, and then showing you the saving after the EPG has been applied.
Below is an example of how this will look on your bills whilst the Energy Price Guarantee is in place:
If you have any questions still around the above, please post below and we'll see if we can clarify further for you.
We'll work to update this thread should anything change so that you have the most up to date information.
Pete 😊
Last edited by Beki; 22-11-22 at 12:58.
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