Time for an Energy Deal?

Perhaps it's just another way of marking the passage of time ...

I suppose (for me) it's manageable but the annual energy contract reminds me what a mess the 'competitive' supply arrangements in the UK are.

Might ask for a smart meter too

I've nothing against my current supplier 'Flow' but the price hike of over £185 (about 18%) is way out of line for general inflation or the increased costs the company is facing so I do feel obliged to be ' non-loyal' and find another provider.


Looking at the 'switch' sites, which I believe get more than £50 per completed switch (be nice if in the interests of transparency the switch sites made this public)   I can see several better deals but there are others from other companies that are not supported by the automated switch - have chosen Oneselect - their price for 2017/18  actually lower (and with no early exit charge) than cost for 2016/17.


Either the UK government needs to make consumer supply market genuinely competitive or impose some sort of control (as they proposed a few months ago)- utilities like energy are 'natural monopolies' only differentiation is the service - flow have been fine and I will see how this company operates over next 12 months.


From my experience working with CAB on energy deals I know that the active consumer is in the minority and the well informed (and often financially secure) can make the best of these sort of switching deals - vast majority can't be bothered or are in debt and want to avoid confrontation that might ensue.

Shopping for energy and Red 75

I've been reminded this week that my current energy deal is coming to an end.

I'm offered the choice from my own energy provider of a considerable price hike (if I remain with the current tariff) or a slightly smaller increase if I choose an alternative tariff with them.

I can then look around using 'price comparison' web sites to check the deals on offer ( Uswitch is such a site but there others doing a similar job).

The UK home energy market it's not clever
and it's not smart

These websites do most of the  work for you if you decide to change provider - and there's some sort of scheme that ensures that it happens in a timely manner.

So I looked at the competing offers and found that I could 'save' £350 by changing provider (tfor me it's a company new to me -flow)

Now I did quite a bit of work with the CAB talking to people about energy and switching suppliers but I'm still slightly concerned when I make this (seemingly) annual change - I remind myself that   the gas and electricity coming through the pipes and wires is the same  and that I'm unlikely to need to talk to the call centres or get involved with the company if they can manage the billing -(not always the case for me).

So how do people older and in financial disarray manage - well they are the ones penalised by this Alice in Wonderland idea of competition - if all companies had the same (or no) fixed charge  the only comparisons would be on unit charge and how they managed the customer -

At the moment it really does seem that the UK home energy market is not working as a competitive market should and as usual those paying the highest prices are those least able to afford it.

Come and see me

ART MARKET

I'll be out and about by Ealing Town hall later today - come and chat about my project - near the sign below!

Red 75

Plenty of Red here by the Town Hall  and it is surely not the 'worst'

Just by the Town Hall

[see a rough cut of the ongoing project here]