How do E.On Next estimate usage and calculate unit rate reduction for Pledge Tracker?

  • solidbond's Avatar
    Level 11
    So just how do E.On Next estimate my future usage to calculate my annual usage? Also, how do they actually calculate the reduction on the price cap for the Next Pledge Tracker tariff?

    Based on my bills, from Sept 2023 to August 2024 I have used 7491 kWh of Gas and 2756 kWh of Electricity, however as of my most recent bill, in August, E.On Next estimate 8217 kWh Gas and 3298 kWh Electricity, both a bit higher than my current usage, but not excessively so, both about 10% high.

    However, the email I have received for my new rates from October (I'm on the Next Pledge Tracker v5), and now showing online estimate my gas usage to be 8179 kWh, but the electricity usage to be 10,009 kWh per annum😮 This is over 3.5 times my actual electricity usage in the past year. How on earth do they get that figure? Any ideas?
  • 11 Replies

  • Mailman's Avatar
    Level 59
    So just how do E.On Next estimate my future usage to calculate my annual usage? Also, how do they actually calculate the reduction on the price cap for the Next Pledge Tracker tariff?

    Based on my bills, from Sept 2023 to August 2024 I have used 7491 kWh of Gas and 2756 kWh of Electricity, however as of my most recent bill, in August, E.On Next estimate 8217 kWh Gas and 3298 kWh Electricity, both a bit higher than my current usage, but not excessively so, both about 10% high.

    However, the email I have received for my new rates from October (I'm on the Next Pledge Tracker v5), and now showing online estimate my gas usage to be 8179 kWh, but the electricity usage to be 10,009 kWh per annum😮 This is over 3.5 times my actual electricity usage in the past year. How on earth do they get that figure? Any ideas?

    in short Eon Next don't have this ability. However Eon's DC (Data Collector) does and provides EAU (estimated annual usage) figures to Eon Next that essentially stay with a property. They change over time and with accurate meter reads. Sometimes these data pulls are way off although thankfully billing in my case was unaffected. When I look at Bright going back to when I moved to my present home, I see that the gas used between 8-9 am was recorded as 7564 kWh.......

    My EAU numbers were all over the p!ace initially but settled down fairly quickly although gas in particular is over 10% higher than my recorded usage.
    Last edited by Mailman; 4 Weeks Ago at 22:51.
  • solidbond's Avatar
    Level 11
    @Mailman

    Thanks for the reply, but I've had a smart meter for over 2 years, and as I say, the previous reading were about 10% above my actual annual usage, but for some reason the electricity one has now jumped to over 3.5 times my usage. I've just checked my old bills, and the estimated use figure has been around 3000 - 3500 kWh per annum since at least 2021, so I don't understand how it can suddenly jump quite so much.

    The cynic in me says that it's a way for E.On Next to save money on the Pledge tracker as follows. Since the tariff is guaranteed to be £50 per year cheaper than the price cap, £25 per fuel, the more fuel you use the lower the cost per kWh reduction so if you use 1000 kWh per year, the £25 would be a saving of 2.5p per kWh, but if you use 10,000 kWh then the reduction would be 0.25p per kWh - hence my reason for asking how they actually calculate the reduction for the tariff.
  • meldrewreborn's Avatar
    Level 91
    @solidbond

    i thought the reduction was applied at the same rate to all customers on pledge. So that small consumers got less benefit than large. The straightforward method would have been a reduction in the standing charge, so the amount could have been guaranteed.

    following you post I’m now uncertain how the discount is generated, but I’d suspect that the method will entail as little computing effort as possible. I’m not on next pledge so have no data to work on. Why the discount on standing charge wasn’t chosen (£25 /365) instead is beyond me.
    Current Eon Next customer, ex EDF, Zog and Symbio. Don't think dual fuel saves money and don't like smart meters. Chronologically Gifted. If I offend let me know by private message, but I’ll continue to express my opinions nonetheless.
  • meldrewreborn's Avatar
    Level 91
    If, and that’s a really big if, your EAC figures are used in the computation of the pledge discount that to me would be entirely wrong.

    if you could post an image of a statement showing figures but not personal details we might be able to reverse engineer the method.

    Just like @Mailman, I’ve had issues with EAC data, nothing critical, my figure remained the same for four months, despite my usage being well down. I don’t get the feeling that anyone cares that the data is incorrect for individuals. The main use of the data is in settling charges between generator, distributors and end suppliers where our issues are in the weeds and swings and roundabouts come into play. The same considerations do not apply for a single meter.
  • solidbond's Avatar
    Level 11
    If, and that’s a really big if, your EAC figures are used in the computation of the pledge discount that to me would be entirely wrong.

    if you could post an image of a statement showing figures but not personal details we might be able to reverse engineer the method.

    Just like @Mailman, I’ve had issues with EAC data, nothing critical, my figure remained the same for four months, despite my usage being well down. I don’t get the feeling that anyone cares that the data is incorrect for individuals. The main use of the data is in settling charges between generator, distributors and end suppliers where our issues are in the weeds and swings and roundabouts come into play. The same considerations do not apply for a single meter.

    I've done some calculations of my own, and it seems as if the reduction in kWh proce is as you suspected and is standard, as my calculations suggest that I'm saving about £31 per year on electricity, both on the current price cap and the post October 1st price cap. Of course this could change, as they've only just changed the EAC from 3298 kWh to 10,009 kWh, so if they keep that figure I'll have to see what happens to the kWh price at the next price cap change.
  • meldrewreborn's Avatar
    Level 91
    @solidbond

    Good to know that I’m not completely bonkers, but one comes across so many individual situations with unusual factors that it’s difficult sometimes to be definitive. Thank you for posting back and please keep an eye on your savings and post again if the situation changes.
  • Mailman's Avatar
    Level 59
    The cynic in me says that it's a way for E.On Next to save money on the Pledge tracker as follows. Since the tariff is guaranteed to be £50 per year cheaper than the price cap, £25 per fuel, the more fuel you use the lower the cost per kWh reduction so if you use 1000 kWh per year, the £25 would be a saving of 2.5p per kWh, but if you use 10,000 kWh then the reduction would be 0.25p per kWh - hence my reason for asking how they actually calculate the reduction for the tariff.

    Fear not 😁 the Next Pledge tariff rates are calculated on the kWh usage of the 'average customer' rather than your usage i.e. 2700 kWh of electricity and 11,500 kWh of gas and split £25 per fuel based on these numbers. So you may save more than £50 depending if your usage is higher than these notionals and of course less than £50 if you use less than these numbers. Of course these savings would be in relation to what you would pay if you stayed on Next Flex rather than Next Pledge. So 2 households in the same area on Next Pledge would see the same p/kWh cost for each utility. When I worked it out on my consumption figures recently I was under a £50 total savings (compared to Next Flex) as my usage numbers are less than these average numbers. 🍺
    Last edited by Mailman; 3 Weeks Ago at 16:31.
  • solidbond's Avatar
    Level 11
    Fear not 😁 the Next Pledge tariff rates are calculated on the kWh usage of the 'average customer' rather than your usage i.e. 2700 kWh of electricity and 11,500 kWh of gas and split £25 per fuel based on these numbers. So you may save more than £50 depending if your usage is higher than these notionals and of course less than £50 if you use less than these numbers. Of course these savings would be in relation to what you would pay if you stayed on Next Flex rather than Next Pledge. When I worked it out on my consumption figures recently I was considerably under a £50 total savings (compared to Next Flex) as my usage numbers are less than these average numbers. 🍺
    @Mailman

    Ahh - that explains it, many thanks for the explanation. Although this makes me even more curious as to why my EAC for electricity has jumped so much!!