I do know what you are pondering: what is that this ridiculous clickbait headline about? Effectively, a number of weekends in the past, I charged up my electrical automotive, cooked lunch within the oven, and did my laundry fully free for a number of hours. Final weekend my electrical energy price lower than 8p per kWh to do the identical. On common, I at present save 40% on my electrical energy payments in comparison with the exorbitant capped fee most individuals within the UK are pressured to pay proper now.
As? Octopus Power and I would like everybody to learn about it.
I have been obsessing over electrical energy consumption for the previous few months because of a mix of UK power market costs and shopping for a brand new electrical automobile. A pal really useful Octopus Power’s Agile contract, which presents variable costs each 30 minutes primarily based on wholesale charges. He used all of it winter with nice financial savings as wholesale electrical energy costs began to fall within the UK in latest months. In 2023, Octopus Agile costs fell nicely under the Power Worth Assure subsidy that the UK authorities launched to cap peak shopper costs for electrical energy after wholesale costs rose following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Octopus Power releases its 30-minute charges day-after-day at 4pm so you may see when one of the best occasions are to make use of your dishwasher, washer, oven or cost an electrical automotive . Peak charges between 4pm and 7pm are normally the same old charges of 34p and even 35p per kWh, however outdoors of these occasions it has averaged round 20p per kWh over the previous few months for me personally.
It can save you some huge cash for those who can shift your power utilization outdoors of the height window. Even if you cannot, you will nonetheless save as a result of for about 20 hours of the day, Agile charges are nicely under commonplace charges.
A normal fee for electrical energy from UK suppliers is at present round 34p per kWh, with a every day cost of as much as 50p. These charges and repair costs range barely by supplier, however the overwhelming majority of individuals within the UK at present pay greater than 30p / kWh, except they’ve a hard and fast contract with decrease charges. In July, the UK cap will likely be set at 30p per kWh, a fee that falls under the present Power Worth Assure and sees regulator Ofgem come again with its personal worth caps.
However that worth cap remains to be method above what I am at present paying. Over the past 28 days I’ve used a mean of 16kWh per day at a fee of 16.9p per kWh as an alternative of the 34p per kWh I might have paid on an ordinary fee. That is a financial savings of just about 50% in comparison with what most individuals would pay for a similar quantity of electrical energy.
So why have not I and lots of others heard about it till lately? Variable fee tariffs are dangerous. Octopus Power markets Agile as a tariff that’s preferrred for folks with electrical autos, storage heaters or anybody who can shift their power use off-peak. Nevertheless it additionally warns that costs may rise by as much as 100p per kWh at any time, 3 times greater than commonplace charges at present. It sounds scary, but it surely’s one thing that hardly ever occurs. In actual fact, it hasn’t peaked in any respect at over 40p per kWh in most locations within the UK in 2023.
That is largely as a result of wholesale costs have come down, creating extra secure environments and worth spikes the place you get hours of free electrical energy. You possibly can see within the chart above that costs have dropped to 0p per kWh or much less a number of occasions over the past six months on Octopus Power Agile.
Regardless of the reductions seen in latest months, it’s also possible to see a sustained enhance for many of December, the place peak costs rose to 80p per kWh, a really costly fee that clients would have seen extra chosen throughout the peak interval between 16:00 and 19:00. If wholesale costs proceed to stabilize and fall, hopefully we can’t see a repeat of this this winter. If costs go up, you may all the time revert immediately to your commonplace tariff, which will likely be capped by Ofgem’s assure.
If costs go up, you may all the time swap again to an ordinary fee
This volatility makes it troublesome to suggest such an power tariff to everybody within the UK, which is another excuse why most individuals have not heard of Agile. Client advocate Martin Lewis, higher often called “The Cash Saving Professional”, has regularly pushed the federal government to assist with electrical energy costs, however has hardly ever really useful that individuals swap to variable tariffs. UK shoppers have seemed to Lewis for recommendation on this power and price of residing disaster, however he highlighted Octopus Power’s ‘good’ Agile tariff in April. Now that we’ve six months of secure information, I believe it is time to begin recommending Agile till we’ve first rate mounted charges out there once more.
In case you are savvy sufficient to look at the every day costs, then you’ll profit enormously right here. I’ve personally change into an Octopus Power vendor with my family and friends as the corporate even supply a referral program the place you break up £100 with a pal you seek advice from the service. I take advantage of the superb Octopus Watch app for iOS for alerts on when costs drop and to see worth charges over 24-hour durations, however Octopus additionally publishes them by itself cellular app and web site.
You Vol they want the newest SMETS2 good meter (some SMETS1 are supported) nevertheless to have the ability to robotically ship meter readings to Octopus Power and use Agile. If you do not have a sensible meter, you may nonetheless swap and Octopus will organize for a meter to be put in. Octopus lately began advertising its Tracker tariff, which is analogous to Agile however has extra restrictions on how lengthy it takes to get out if costs go within the incorrect path.
It is also simply comforting to make use of a utility firm that’s environmentally pleasant and offers nice customer support. In an more and more inefficient and broken UK power market, Octopus Power is method forward in delivering inexperienced power with the most effective software-as-a-service merchandise we have ever seen in Nice Britain.
Finally, I hope to automate loads of this with good house know-how and plugs to restrict the time I am monitoring charges. However I assumed I would share this tip proper now in case it helps you avoid wasting nice kilos.
