Change to Scottish Hydro direct debit discounts

[dortmunder]

You'll have had your letter from the Hydro advising of a forthcoming price rise. That's to be expected but they've also changed the discount you get for paying by DD and having an online bill. What used to be discounts of 6% and 1% are now reductions of £40 and £6.

Does this benefit the customer? Course not. My DD discount is now less than half what it was.

[Rheghead]

You'll have had your letter from the Hydro advising of a forthcoming price rise. That's to be expected but they've also changed the discount you get for paying by DD and having an online bill. What used to be discounts of 6% and 1% are now reductions of £40 and £6.

Does this benefit the customer? Course not. My DD discount is now less than half what it was.

Actually this is no bad thing. The previous pricing regime rewarded us for using DD if we were high energy users, the more you used the more you saved, by using a fixed reduction then it will reward those who are trying to cut back on their energy useage.

[sueonmull]

Yes it is good to use less electric but if you are in an all electric household with elderly occupants it’s not always possible to cut back. For high users the change to the discount scheme is effectively an extra 7% in the pockets of Scottish Hydro on top of the 16% increase in the charge per unit – and we had a 16% increase last year too.
By my rough estimate, anyone with a single fuel (and that is pretty much everyone in remote areas where there is no mains gas) and paying over £50 a month by direct debit will be paying more irrespective of whether the unit price for electric had gone up. Hydro say this is to make the tariffs clearer and easier to compare –that’ll be right!!!!
We’re an easy target for the energy suppliers and no one can stop them.

[secrets in symmetry]

David Cameron is doing his best to stop them!

[Rheghead]

David Cameron is doing his best to stop them!

Yes I am rather confused by that. Maggie set in motion to make the energy market a free market but now Dave is forcing suppliers to tell customers what the lowest tariff is available. David Cameron is basically telling us that free market economics doesn't work, a total u-turn for the tories.

[tonkatojo]

Actually this is no bad thing. The previous pricing regime rewarded us for using DD if we were high energy users, the more you used the more you saved, by using a fixed reduction then it will reward those who are trying to cut back on their energy useage.

There will be no rewards soon, has it not dawned on folk the more you try and cut back the higher the prices go to maintain the extortionate profits, it's a big con. Be honest and admit it Rheghy

[Rheghead]

There will be no rewards soon, has it not dawned on folk the more you try and cut back the higher the prices go to maintain the extortionate profits, it's a big con. Be honest and admit it Rheghy

Admit what exactly? I'm not following your train of thought sorry.

[Beat Bug]

We pay by standing order and get our bills on line. Going on our bills so far, we wil be better off, as the fixed discount will be more than the discount we get! The reason we don't drop DD ISP that they always want more than our usage, and keep wanting to increase the payments. Then at the end of their financial year, they owe us about 25-30 per cent of what we've paid them, but won't decrease the payments for the following year!

[tonkatojo]

Admit what exactly? I'm not following your train of thought sorry.

My thoughts are the more green one tries to be the more I will pay, its a simple recognition of the corporate greed for profit.

[secrets in symmetry]

Yes I am rather confused by that. Maggie set in motion to make the energy market a free market but now Dave is forcing suppliers to tell customers what the lowest tariff is available. David Cameron is basically telling us that free market economics doesn't work, a total u-turn for the tories.

Yes, it's ironic.

Will we soon be hearing that it's all the fault of all these foreign owned power companies who don't abide by Ango-Saxon free market rules? He'll be wanting to nationalise them next!

Can the UK government nationalise EDF? It would be an interesting battle!

[Rheghead]

My thoughts are the more green one tries to be the more I will pay, its a simple recognition of the corporate greed for profit.

I don't agree with that at all, in fact I believe the opposite. Firstly, if we didn't have any green incentives at all then the price of fossil fuels will go up more than they have been doing as demand will outstrip supply. That is just economic science which I am not disputing. Secondly, by cutting back on using or saving electricity or whatever fuel you had in mind by better insulation or whatever then you are not paying for it so you will be better off. Thirdly, as green energy gets more mature in the energy market then the green incentives that put them there in the first place will come down to zero like they have been doing.

There is a lot of BS written about green energy driving up the cost of energy when in fact it is over dependence on fossil fuels that is the real culprit.

Take for instance the Renewable Obligation. If energy suppliers do not meet their green obligation then they have to pay into a buyout fund that is proportional to the shortfall of their obligation. The more renewable energy that is supplied then the cheaper your energy is going to be.

[tonkatojo]

I don't agree with that at all, in fact I believe the opposite. Firstly, if we didn't have any green incentives at all then the price of fossil fuels will go up more than they have been doing as demand will outstrip supply. That is just economic science which I am not disputing. Secondly, by cutting back on using or saving electricity or whatever fuel you had in mind by better insulation or whatever then you are not paying for it so you will be better off. Thirdly, as green energy gets more mature in the energy market then the green incentives that put them there in the first place will come down to zero like they have been doing.

There is a lot of BS written about green energy driving up the cost of energy when in fact it is over dependence on fossil fuels that is the real culprit.

Take for instance the Renewable Obligation. If energy suppliers do not meet their green obligation then they have to pay into a buyout fund that is proportional to the shortfall of their obligation. The more renewable energy that is supplied then the cheaper your energy is going to be.

You still don't get it, say I am paying £300 a quarter for dual fuel and I insulate my home and save £20 off the current bill then the next quarter the beggers put up the cost of duel fuel by that £20 + so I am paying £300 plus any other costs they dream up so as the shareholders can afford to pay their fuel bills plus a bit more fore whatever. In other words the consumer cannot win.

[Rheghead]

You still don't get it, say I am paying £300 a quarter for dual fuel and I insulate my home and save £20 off the current bill then the next quarter the beggers put up the cost of duel fuel by that £20 + so I am paying £300 plus any other costs they dream up so as the shareholders can afford to pay their fuel bills plus a bit more fore whatever. In other words the consumer cannot win.

Then I still do not understand how you link that with your notion that green incentives are to blame for your rising fuel costs. If you hadn't saved that £20 by insulating your home then correct me if I am wrong then you would be £40+ worse off.

[tonkatojo]

Then I still do not understand how you link that with your notion that green incentives are to blame for your rising fuel costs. If you hadn't saved that £20 by insulating your home then correct me if I am wrong then you would be £40+ worse off.

Correct, but there is only so much insulation to be used and once its there you only save the once on current costs, as the costs keep going up to compensate the losses the companies lose from the insulation installed hence the no win situation.

[Rheghead]

Correct, but there is only so much insulation to be used and once its there you only save the once on current costs, as the costs keep going up to compensate the losses the companies lose from the insulation installed hence the no win situation.

I don't agree with that. Energy suppliers aren't increasing the price of fuel due to a expected drop in demand. I'd say that since the cost of fossil fuels is getting more expensive then profit margins are getting higher because profits are calculated as a function of the basic cost of fuel.

However, I do think you have highlighted the frustrating issue of insulating a house which was built in an age when the cost of fuel wouldn't have been an issue in the design.

[tonkatojo]

I don't agree with that. Energy suppliers aren't increasing the price of fuel due to a expected drop in demand. I'd say that since the cost of fossil fuels is getting more expensive then profit margins are getting higher because profits are calculated as a function of the basic cost of fuel.

However, I do think you have highlighted the frustrating issue of insulating a house which was built in an age when the cost of fuel wouldn't have been an issue in the design.

Its pretty naive to think that energy companies will not want to lose out on revenue, if they had £10 billion profit last year and profits dropped 10% or so because everyone insulated their homes do you honestly think they will nor recuperate the losses by not putting up prices then your more green than I thought.

[Rheghead]

Its pretty naive to think that energy companies will not want to lose out on revenue,

I didn't say they would lose out on revenue.

[tonkatojo]

I didn't say they would lose out on revenue.

That was what I was saying though, perhaps not so clearly.

[poppett]

Got a letter to say direct debit would have to go up from 40 to 56 per month for our Gas to cover forthcoming bills. When I phoned up to have this checked I had 130 of credit, not a shortfall between our gas and electricity accounts. Also found out that there was a cheaper tariff we could be on with extra discount of 2% and a 50quid credit to the electricity account for joining the new scheme. Prices on this cheaper tarriff fixed until December 2014. So pleased I took the time to phone and got a good deal.

[tonkatojo]

Got a letter to say direct debit would have to go up from 40 to 56 per month for our Gas to cover forthcoming bills. When I phoned up to have this checked I had 130 of credit, not a shortfall between our gas and electricity accounts. Also found out that there was a cheaper tariff we could be on with extra discount of 2% and a 50quid credit to the electricity account for joining the new scheme. Prices on this cheaper tarriff fixed until December 2014. So pleased I took the time to phone and got a good deal.

What co was this ? others might benefit from knowing.. Thanks.