[Indyk_EONNext]

Hey Community Members

Have you heard we have some exciting news to share as we are getting ready to launch the Everyday Tracker!

Over the years we have had some natter around dynamic products that react to changes in wholesale market, and today can finally announce that we are getting ready to launch the first iteration of our Everyday Tracker.

So what are the benefits of the Everyday Tracker?

Having the Everyday Tracker means your electricity rate will change each day depending on the price of tomorrow's wholesale cost, meaning you can take advantage of cheaper rates during particular high renewable generation or low market demand. As it's a test product we will be trailing the electricity first, and we will continue to work on the possibility of creating a daily gas tracker further down the line. So in the meantime, gas rates will change on a quarterly basis and match Next Pledge, below the price cap.

FAQs

We have created some FAQs, as well as some tips and tricks to help you understand how the product works and how you can maximise your benefit from it which we will also be sharing very soon.

What happens next

Over the next couple of weeks we will be posting a form, so anyone that feels they would love to be a part of our limited trail can register their interest. The feedback we receive will be invaluable to development, so we are looking for people who don’t mind a few rough edges whilst we smooth out the customer journey and are willing to shape the future direction of the product.

So keep your eyes peeled for further updates! 💜

[Thewookiewon]

Hello,

Fantastic news, I guess my first thought will be whether E-On will provide API access to the tracker data including the smart meter data too?

[geoffers]

This may be of interest: Just done some Googling and Octopus has a similar product - their FAQ...

https://octopus.energy/tracker-faqs/

explains how they calculate the baseload average price from the previous day's N2EX GB Day-Ahead auction. (Presumably E.On will be using the same source cost data.)

https://data.nordpoolgroup.com/aucti...liveryAreas=UK

[TAYLOROY]

Count me in, 👍

[Andy65]

I see from the FAQ link posted by @geoffers that the tentacled supplier has a maximum rate of 30p per kWh for Gas and £1 per kWh for electricity. I think I'd need to trawl through at least two years worth of historical daily prices before I go anywhere something like this. I think it would be a risky move for low users, any savings gained could easily be undone in a few days.

[meldrewreborn]

@Andy65

the benefits will naturally be higher for big users than small users. The risks they face in percentage terms will though be much the same. As a relatively low user (about 1600 kWh per annum) using gas for heating and cooking, it only when the tumble dryer, dishwasher, washing machine, vacuum cleaner etc are utilised that my consumption moves much above the average base. While shifting these activities to low cost periods might be financially sensible, convenience and years of ingrained practice will exert a strong pull the other way.

I would fear for those who might not understand fully what TOU tariffs could do to their finances in extreme weather situations - and to me that would be more than 80% of the population. Evidence of the supposed benefits in practice is rather thin on the ground, but I think it fair to say it’s not been overwhelmingly positive on the national level, and even less so on the individual level. Some can and would benefit, but whether it’s worth the faff to most of us I very much doubt.

Inertia in energy tariffs is very strong. Without guarantees of real savings and protections against massive bills I’d be against compulsory introduction of TOU tariffs.

[geoffers]

Originally Posted by Andy65

I see from the FAQ link posted by @geoffers that the tentacled supplier has a maximum rate of 30p per kWh for Gas and £1 per kWh for electricity. I think I'd need to trawl through at least two years worth of historical daily prices before I go anywhere something like this. I think it would be a risky move for low users, any savings gained could easily be undone in a few days.

I think this is a worst case upper limit if wholesale prices rocket, and you'd be free to change tariff at any time

In reality looking at their cost formulae, my SW region rate would be around 13p per kWh

[retrotecchie]

@geoffers

ToU tariffs are all very well, but no-one seems to have addressed the obvious question. If the price of electricity changes on the half-hour, or even two or three times a day, how are customers notified?

In order to plan your usage for anything other than baseload, you would need to know well in advance what the unit prices are going to be for any given period, surely?

With something like Next Drive or Economy 7, you always know when your off-peak periods are going to be and can plan your car charging, or tumble drying, for those times. If the price is varying hour to hour, it's a little harder to plan,

I'm sure that once the current smart meters are replaced with something more clever that allows different circuits in your house to be energised at different times, and your devices/appliances are IoT enabled and can interact with a 'smarter' system then it becomes a lot more sensible.

Until that becomes mainstream, I can't see the majority of the population easily managing ToU pricing to their best advantage.

[geoffers]

@retrotecchie - this isn't actually a TOU tariff, though I don't see why people couldn't check the rates for themselves if they want to reduce their cost.

People can check the costs at the petrol pumps for the best deal, or check supermarket prices and shop at Aldi rather than Waitrose, so why not check when the leccy rates are cheapest and adjust their usage accordingly

[WizzyWigg]

@geoffers Seriously can you see everyone happy to look up daily energy prices. 😂 I would surprised if many knew where to look in the first instance.
We already see on the forum those who expect their IHDs to supply TOU data and are not totally enthralled when having to use alternatives.
In the future may be the wholesale market tracker will be the norm but many changes are required. 😉