For help, advice and discussion about stuff not related to aviation. Play nice: no religion, no politics and no axe grinding please.
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#1870345
riverrock wrote:
stevelup wrote:Agile is dead in the water now. May it RIP.

Octopus only buy generation capacity from renewable sources, and we have had much less wind than normal this year, so the price of highly variable tariffs has risen. Agile prices went really low (and sometimes negative) on very windy nights.


I know - I was on it - even designed and made a funky gadget for the kitchen with an e-Ink display so we knew when to do stuff. I'd integrated the car charging / hot tub / aircon / UFH with stacks of automation.

Then it spent two full weeks pegged at 35p/kWh - I stuck with it for longer than I should before bailing out.

It's now completely useless. I'm still keeping an eye on it, but the average price for Sep was 31.6p. August was 26.3p.
Colonel Panic liked this
#1870379
Propwash wrote:
PeteSpencer wrote:

PS EDF have three times been in touch with me to install a smart electricity meter but I’ve waved them off each time . I wonder if they will start to get heavy?…..


We actually had a chancer turn up at our front door to physically fit the new smart meter. No appointment, nothing. He won't be coming back any time soon.


The energy market isnt quite as open in France as in the UK.

EDF must have pitched up one day when we were not at home before last winter some time after "confinement#2" and changed my meter for a smart meter. I only realized they had done it when I the bill I had which should have been an estimate wasnt and I went to look at the numbers... :roll:

Regards, SD..
User avatar
By tr7v8
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1870433
riverrock wrote:Two more suppliers have just bitten the dust:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland- ... s-58557434

I'm wondering what the trigger is for multiple suppliers going bust. I'd have thought they should have kept themselves separated from cost of wholesale gas increases.

Yup had two accounts with UP us & my Mum. My fixed deal was coming to the end so was looking around. Just changed bit the next cheapest was £50 a month more. Used the meerkats & tried MoneySupermarket. The latters best offer was £130 more than I am paying at the mo :shock:

This was the mail.

Dear Utility Point Member,

I trust you are well in these uncertain times.
A few months ago, we appointed the global professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal Europe LLP (“A&M”) to advise on our strategic investment options going forward.
Despite substantial interest and continued negotiations with several suitable parties and best efforts, recent international and national circumstances have created a perfect storm of events which has meant that Utility Point will cease trading and another supplier will be taking over your supply.
All of us at Board level have been working hard towards a different outcome, and I wish I had better news to report to you today but regrettably in the end we weren’t able to overcome these external forces.
Timings

Now, we must begin switching gears and preparing for the wind-down process, which we expect to begin as soon as this afternoon.

We will enter the Supplier of Last Resort (SOLR) process today, Tuesday 14 September at 14:00. We have already switched all phone lines over to a message which will inform you we have entered this process however you can still get hold of us in an emergency with the usual number provided. You will find our website contains the standard OFGEM message as well as some F&Qs you may find useful and a copy of this letter.
More about why this has happened

Utility Point has undergone a remarkable evolution in the past three years as we’ve pursued our vision to become one of the nation’s leading utility companies, indeed rising to 15th biggest in the UK during this time. Previously I have commented that we have seen – and mastered – many challenging situations and I have always been so proud and inspired by the way our company has risen to these challenges - with flexibility, resilience, and courage, but current global events coupled with the ongoing COVID-19 situation has been a significant challenge and understandably so.

PFP Energy - which had around 80,000 domestic customers and MoneyPlus Energy, which had around 9,000 domestic customers ceased to trade last week, and we expect several others to follow suit in the coming weeks and months.

Pressures will continue to rise in the market as wholesale energy prices have soared to record levels from what has been a 99 percentile move off the back of an increase in extreme weather conditions leading to a global gas supply shortage, inability to provide timely and necessary generator maintenance causing multiple sites to be taken offline simultaneously, lower exports from Russia and rising demand.

To put this in some perspective, prices in the UK have recently hit over 157 pence per therm compared to less than 30 pence per therm one year ago. Power prices closely follow the gas price and have climbed to an unprecedented level of over £540 per MwH. This is more than four times their normal level over the past decade. This has meant that National Grid have asked coal-fired power stations to switch on to help manage demand.

Indeed, it may be worth noting that testing of the Norwegian electricity interconnector continued last week, exporting power out of the UK, even though the UK power market was experiencing a tight system and prices well over £3000 per MWh!

Graph 1 – (Month Ahead Prices. Daily view 14/09/20 - 01/10/21) below, clearly shows the rise in wholesale power over the past year reaching highs of over £145 per MWh just last week however, this has now spiked further to over £540 per MWh as previously discussed.
Graph 1 – Month Ahead Prices


You may be aware last year OFGEM announced that all suppliers where required to offer extended payment terms and be more lenient with the collection of debt due to the pandemic, something they are asking to continue into this winter. Utility Point has always supported all its members and understands the variability of vulnerability and that it is not static, supporting many of our members through hard and uncertain times. Unfortunately, this extra support has meant an increase in debt and deficit.

On top of all this the price cap on default tariffs which was introduced to limit the amount suppliers can charge customers has not been covering the costs of supplying energy which means that every supplier is undercharging for energy and that the fair cost for energy that OFGEM was trying to encourage is actually well under the value at which it costs to supply. Although the rise in the level of the price cap is set to increase by £139 from October to reflect rising wholesale costs, bringing the average dual fuel bill to £1,277, this is still over £200 below the cost to supply the energy and it has been impossible to hedge in line with the way the price cap is calculated making the whole market unsustainable to operate in. Indeed, in most cases the only reason that suppliers end up charging more for energy than it costs is to offset the cost of debt and the collection of debt which is a major issue in the industry and one that requires a rethink as those that can, and do pay, end up paying for those that don’t pay.

This toxic mix of circumstances and lack of commercial understanding from the certain powers has made it impossible to continue, indeed the only real outcome for consumers, which will be felt in the coming year, is that prices will rise for the very people that they are trying to protect.

Thus, it is due to this perfect storm and with great sadness we close our doors.

Whether you’ve been with Utility Point for a few months or several years, I hope you know how much we valued your custom and you have enjoyed some of the small perks we have offered along the way. Thank you.

The coming weeks will be difficult as we wind down operations, but I ask my team to continue to hold their heads highs. They have done us proud and, I hope you will join me in wishing them all the very best in their future endeavours.

Warmest Regards,


Ben Bolt
Chief Executive Officer

Visit our website: utilitypoint.co.uk [url5064.utilitypoint.co.uk]
User avatar
By stevelup
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1870477
tr7v8 wrote:Dear Utility Point Member,

This toxic mix of circumstances and lack of commercial understanding from the certain powers has made it impossible to continue, indeed the only real outcome for consumers, which will be felt in the coming year, is that prices will rise for the very people that they are trying to protect.


And for contrast, from Octopus:-

Dear Stephen,

Unprecedented global energy prices have continued pushing up wholesale costs of both gas and electricity (which make up a big chunk of your energy bill). We always do our utmost to absorb as much as possible.

This is why we are the last large energy supplier to raise prices, and we're keeping them lower.

As you may know, the other large suppliers – British Gas, EDF, E.on, OVO, ScottishPower and Bulb – have all announced October price rises, taking their prices within pennies of the Energy Price Cap: the legal maximum they can charge their customers.

We're committed to making renewable energy affordable for everyone, so we'd prefer to never raise prices. But when we do it is always by as little as possible, and we will reduce prices as soon as possible.

From October 14, our prices will be £51 below the cap for a typical dual fuel home.
On average, that's a monthly increase of £8.33. There's a personalised breakdown of how the changes affect you in the PDF attached.

If you'd prefer to fix your prices – at any time – you can do that here in just a few taps. You don't even need a password.

Our commitment to good value remains unchanged.

You're on Flexible Octopus, our great value standard tariff, and have been enjoying cheaper energy than our fixed price tariffs for over 35 weeks. We have always worked hard to ensure our standard prices represent good value, and will continue to do so.

In fact, a typical home that switched to our very first fixed tariff in 2016, and stayed on Flexible Octopus once it finished, would now be £892 better off than they would have been by going with the cheapest fixed followed by the average standard tariff from any of the Big 6.

We usually add 5% to the cost of the energy we supply, which covers the costs of running our business (including customer service, trading risk, rent, fees we pay to switching sites and referral credits). With the precipitous rise of wholesale costs, we've foregone even this slim margin. This has cost us around £5m per month but we've been happy to do it as long as possible to maintain our promises to customers to fight hard to keep prices low.

Additionally, we work hard to keep your costs lower with technology: our platform, Kraken, helps us deliver better service at lower costs – which lets us keep our prices competitive, even in the face of rising wholesale costs.

And despite these competitive prices, you're still receiving electricity 100% backed by renewable generation, Which? Recommended customer service, and are part of our efforts to accelerate the world's transition to renewable energy.

Your monthly payments are estimated by how much we think you'll use. So we won't adjust your payments now, but we will get in touch if your account starts falling too far behind. If you'd prefer to adjust your monthly payment now, you can do so in your online account.

We're confident that our new prices represent good value, but if you'd like to compare to other suppliers, you might want to try The Energy Shop.

Good to know: we'll continue to honour your current prices until October 14 – so you have plenty of time to consider, or to talk to us about your options. And remember to let us know if you'd like to use our financial support tool as soon as it's ready.
#1870480
With an attitude like that, I really don't know why anyone would go anywhere else to be honest.

100% renewable, great customer service and very competitive.

Yes, they're not the cheapest, but they don't keep going bust either...

Have a referral link and save £50 :)

https://share.octopus.energy/jade-bat-317
#1870523
I've had the same Utility Point email, having moved from Tonik which also went under. About a month ago I received a demand for £55 from the administrator in charge of the Tonik accounts; apparently they'd been under-billing for a while. Some people had demands for thousands! Something to look out for with UP potentially.
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