Energy Tariffs

[sharpener]

Why is PAYG much cheaper?

And a number of other questions.

For example, why does the SE region (unlike London) have the highest E7 day rates and the lowest night rates? Hence why is the incentive to use night rate very different in different parts of the country?

Also, do the 14 different rates for the 14 regions truly reflect the differing costs of the infrastructure, population density etc or are they an arbitrary hangover from the pre-privatisation era? Are they mandated by OFGEM, and where does the extra money go to or is it just retained by EDF and the other suppliers?

[nowty]

Also, do the 14 different rates for the 14 regions truly reflect the differing costs of the infrastructure, population density etc or are they an arbitrary hangover from the pre-privatisation era? Are they mandated by OFGEM, and where does the extra money go to or is it just retained by EDF and the other suppliers?

Some official info here,
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/r ... rk-charges

And a simpler read here,
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/ ... gy-prices/

[Fintray]

And a simpler read here,
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/ ... gy-prices/

Just had a read of the above and now realise I live in Scottland!

[ducabi]

Also, do the 14 different rates for the 14 regions truly reflect the differing costs of the infrastructure, population density etc or are they an arbitrary hangover from the pre-privatisation era? Are they mandated by OFGEM, and where does the extra money go to or is it just retained by EDF and the other suppliers?

Some official info here,
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/r ... rk-charges

And a simpler read here,
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/ ... gy-prices/

PAYG prices still don't make any sense to me.

[Oldgreybeard]

Why is PAYG much cheaper?

And a number of other questions.

For example, why does the SE region (unlike London) have the highest E7 day rates and the lowest night rates? Hence why is the incentive to use night rate very different in different parts of the country?

Also, do the 14 different rates for the 14 regions truly reflect the differing costs of the infrastructure, population density etc or are they an arbitrary hangover from the pre-privatisation era? Are they mandated by OFGEM, and where does the extra money go to or is it just retained by EDF and the other suppliers?

Edited to add that this post refers to an EDF tariff that is only available to customers on the "Safeguard Assist" scheme, so those on low incomes that are in receipt of Warm Homes Scheme assistance.

All VERY good questions indeed! I don't think I've ever seen any tariff where the PAYG prices are lower than the DD prices. Also, I simply do not believe that it costs half as much to generate and supply electricity to the SE at night than it does to supply us here in the South. Some of the other discrepancies also look pretty iffy, too.

A bit over 98% of our total usage is at night now, and I'm currently paying 17.831p/kWh at night. Switching to a tariff that costs 14.82p/kWh would be a useful saving, even more so at whatever the post-increase tariff from our existing supplier turns out to be (it won't be cheaper, I'm sure). The fly in the ointment is the much higher standing charge, as I'll be paying that even when we're not using any energy from the grid. I need to try and work out where the sweet spot is, it may be worth paying a bit more per unit if the standing charge is lower.

[Stinsy]

Why is PAYG much cheaper?

And a number of other questions.

For example, why does the SE region (unlike London) have the highest E7 day rates and the lowest night rates? Hence why is the incentive to use night rate very different in different parts of the country?

Also, do the 14 different rates for the 14 regions truly reflect the differing costs of the infrastructure, population density etc or are they an arbitrary hangover from the pre-privatisation era? Are they mandated by OFGEM, and where does the extra money go to or is it just retained by EDF and the other suppliers?

My guess is that the day/night differences in the South-East is due to IFA providing ultra-cheap overnight power from the French Nuclear fleet.

[sharpener]

My guess is that the day/night differences in the South-East is due to IFA providing ultra-cheap overnight power from the French Nuclear fleet.

According to The Economist, France is currently a net importer because 56% of their nuclear fleet is out of commission for repairs. Of course this might still mean they have a surplus at night - just not as reliable.

And why would this not also apply in London?

[Oldgreybeard]

My guess is that the day/night differences in the South-East is due to IFA providing ultra-cheap overnight power from the French Nuclear fleet.

IFA 1, Britned and NEMO are all in the SE, but they often export to continental Europe at night, I believe. IFA 2 is in the Southern Region, but again that often seems to export at night. There must be something else at work here to create the prices differential, but I can't for the life of me think what it might be.

Looking at where the cheapest generation is, then most of it is along the East coast, from wind, I would guess. The SE doesn't seem to have much low cost generation AFAICS.

[Oldgreybeard]

Deleted this post because the info used for the EDF tariff was wrong.

[Oldgreybeard]

The tariffs vary hugely by region. I'm in the north of scotland and I won't get any benefit in switching. That's 15p cheap for me. However other areas are down to 6p. Good luck.

The E10 rates can be found here https://www.edfenergy.com/sites/default ... ters_0.pdf


E7 and standard https://www.edfenergy.com/sites/default ... meters.pdf

It took ages to find these. Even the phone operator couldn't

Just found a major snag with the second link. This is the tariff that applies to customers that are eligible for "Safeguard Assist", so low income households that are eligible for the Warm Homes Scheme subsidy. Unless you are eligible for this subsidised tariff then you won't be able to switch to it. There's info on the Safeguard scheme here: https://www.homeheatingguide.co.uk/gran ... ard-tariff

The link to the tariffs that apply to customers that are not on low incomes is here: https://www.edfenergy.com/sites/default ... credit.pdf

Note that the prices are a great deal higher than those linked in the quoted post above, so my subsequent posts referring to those prices don't apply for us, or most people I suspect. I'll edit those posts to make this clear.

By way of comparison, the true EDF prices from 1st October 2022 for Economy 7 in the Southern Region are 61.01p/kWh day rate, 32.96p/kWh night rate and a standing charge of 44.5p/day (all if paying by DD).

I shall not be calling EDF to switch to this tariff!