It's arrived & I'm in shock!

Well, it’s arrived! My new power bill.

It was £148 per month.

New price £293.72

That’s 100% increase - I was expecting 50%
Shocked is an understatement. I could cry!! :cry:

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@carol , Don’t worry,!it’s only an assessment !!
Just make sure you dont use any gas or electric before the next reading ??
Donkeyman ! :+1::+1:

Ah - if only Donkeyman. :open_mouth:

I’ve got a smart meter - does that make a difference I wonder?

From the little I know of smart meters, its helpful if the energy company you pay, also owns the smart meter. You can peer at it on occasion and check the daily total of your usage and reduce accordingly. Also, if you stay in credit (ie under your Direct Debit), you get that back, obviously because as Donkeyman says, its only an estimate. They did that with me - wildly over estimated my bill, and now I’m well in credit because I don’t use that much. They won’t give me it back just now though (they say) because it “needs to average out over a few months” :roll_eyes:

I have just made an extra payment to my supplier, as my credit balance is drifting downwards. I don’t know what their prices will be later, but they still intend taking the same amount from me on the 1st. Yes, I do know it could and will change later. I get billed monthly.

@PixieKnuckles , HA! HA!, Average out me arse!
More like evaporate Pixie !!
Donkeyman! :-1::-1:

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Shush! @Donkeyman That’s what the man says, so I believe him! :joy: I’ll be keeping a beady eye on those figures though :eyes:

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I’m very lucky as in January I had my meters changed from the pre pay card and key to smart meters and didn’t opt for a direct debit, Accordingly I am paying monthly for what I actually use. Yes my tariff and standing charge are going up, and it’s a nuisance that I have to have my heating on 16 degrees C in the night as if I don’t it causes problems with my COPD. I’m being very careful with the Gas and Electricity

So helpful. :thinking::sweat_smile:

:joy:

$600 a month? What are you doing? Running a factory?

I think not. Ours went up from 135 to 280, and that’s without running a tumble drier this year and with only flicking the heating on for 1 or 2 hours at a time rather than having it on autotiming. So our actual usage has gone down but the bills more than doubled.

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Same here, Melgal. Mine has more than doubled too.
Its going to be a helluva problem for so many people.
Thank God we are coming out of winter instead of just going in to it.
I cant help but wonder what next winter will bring though.

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Millions of households could soon see their electricity costs rise and fall in real time when suppliers introduce “surge pricing” for customers with smart meters.
Basically it means that in theory you Under the new system, smart meters will send suppliers information about customers’ electricity usage every 30 minutes by default, instead of making this an opt-in choice for consumers. Providers will be able to use the data to adjust energy prices throughout the day. This means that households that use energy at popular times could end up paying a premium in order to do so.
In theory we should all be varying when we do our washing charge your electric car etc etc.

Those of us who have not got a smart meter are unaffected. :smiley::smiley:

The smart meter I have was here when I moved in, so had no choice. But its as effective as a pair of chocolate wallies, so I daresay I’ll get the feedback thing, and associated charges, but no clue how to adjust anything. :frowning_face: I can’t even see my online bill which is infuriating.

I’ve just paid, over £1000 for a part tank full of heating oil…last time it was £540 for a full tank. Scary how much its gone up and they wouldn’t fill the tank as they are rationing it so every customer gets some.

That seemed quite a lot at £148 anyway @carol , but hopefully your new boiler will bring your use down considerably now as these new boilers are so much more efficient than the old back boiler… fingers crossed for you anyway… :crossed_fingers:

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Do you know why that is Pixie? :smiley::smiley:

Nope…Its supposed to be under “Energy & Bill Payments” but when I click on that, it comes up with “There is no bill generated at this time” despite paying them twice. The online chat is an automated bot who seems to deliberately misunderstand the words “I can’t find my bill” and the phone number is constantly busy. :angry:

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Yes, it was always more than any of my friends/family. I put it down to the uneconomical back boiler.
Now I have my new combi my bill may be more on par with other people’s.

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That has got to be a joke! How can you pay the equivalent of $600 for one month’s electricity. I mean really?

My last bill was a big one because of Christmas and family staying but for the three months it wasn’t even half of your bill. I only have electricity powering my house - no gas.

You should be rioting in the streets. (or check your neighbours aren’t stealing your electricity)